Hope In A War
by DunktheLunk
Summary: Sparks burn brightest in the dark. (Sabezra, AU)
1. chapter 1

A/N: Before I get started, I wanted to say a few things.

First, I want to say thank you to all the people who have read and reviewed my Paint Me A Rebel, story, as well as those who have read my Stories From the Front series over in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Second, I want to give a HUGE thank you to my main inspiration for this story, Meldy-Arts on tumblr. I doubt she'll see this, but if she does, I just want her to know how much her art inspired this story, and my love of fanfiction. Thank you and keep up the good work!

Chapter 1

"Specter 5 to Specter 2, cargo acquired, heading home." Sabine said into her comm.

"Copy that, be careful, there are still troops roaming the area." Hera replied.

"Got it." Sabine said. "Do you have Chop secured yet Ezra?" She asked impatiently

"Almost." Ezra replied he struggled with the droid, trying to attach him to the speeder.

Sabine laughed to herself as Chopper shocked Ezra in protest. The droid always chose the worst times to be stubborn.

"Alright got it." He said as he engaged the magno lock. "Now let's get out of here."

"Agreed." She said as she fired up her speeder. Ezra jumped on his speeder, and together they drove into the street. As they rounded a corner, they ran into a patrol of storm troopers.

"Halt, this is a restricted area!" One of them yelled. Ezra answered by blasting the trooper with his speeder cannons. Sabine threw one of her paint bombs, splattering the remaining troopers with bright purple paint.

"By by, bucketheads!" Sabine laughed as they flew past.

They were almost to the pickup zone when Ezra heard a familiar noise. It was the thudding of the spinning lightsaber of an Inquisitor. Before he could call out to Sabine, the lightsaber flew out of an alley and cut off the front of her speeder, sending her flying into the dirt.

"Sabine!" Yelled Ezra. He pulled his speeder to a stop and ran to her. "You ok?" He asked

"I'll be fine" She replied as he helped her to her feet.

"Not for long, I'm afraid." A voice laughed. They looked up and saw an Inquisitor stepping into the street. "I wish we had time to talk but sadly I'm on a schedule."

Ezra drew his lightsaber and charged. They locked sabers for a moment, then hacked and slashed at each other. Sabine joined in with her pistols, and the Inquisitor began to give ground.

"Chopper, radio Hera and tell her we have an Inquisitor and need a pickup here." Said Sabine. The Inquisitor used the force to throw Ezra, and he landed next to Sabine.

"You good?" She asked, still shooting.

"Never better." Ezra said in his usual cocky tone.

As he stood, the Inquisitor threw his lightsaber at them. Ezra saw it and knew Sabine wouldn't be able to dodge it, so he pushed her out of the way. The blade slashed across his chest and he fell to the ground.

"Ezra!" Screamed Sabine. She tossed a thermal imploder at the Inquisitor, and it threw him down the street.

She ran over to Ezra, and rolled him onto his back. She gasped as she did, seeing the injury the blade had caused. His chest was slashed open at a 30 degree angle from right to left. He was breathing, but barely. That was a good sign, it meant the cut wasn't too deep and hadn't hit his lungs or heart. She looked down the street and saw the Inquisitor start to get up. At that moment, the Ghost appeared overhead. Hera fired the main guns at the Inquisitor, and he ran. As Ghost landed, Kanan jumped out and ran toward them.

"Did you move him?" He asked.

"I rolled him over, but that's it." she replied, shaking a little, "Is he gonna make it?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Kanan replied, "Let's get him on the ship. Go get a stretcher and a medkit." When she returned with the supplies, Kanan used the force to move Ezra onto the stretcher, then placed meds into the wound.

"Let's get him onboard." he said. Once they were inside, Kanan began to treat Ezras injury more thoroughly.

As Sabine stood watching, Hera walked up to her. "Sabine, what happened?" she asked.

"The Inquisitor threw his lightsaber." Sabine said,

"I didn't see it in time, and Ezra pushed me out if the way. That should be me in there." Sabine began to choke up and Hera put her arms around the young girl.

"Hey, look at me, it's not your fault." she said.

A few minutes later, Kanan packed up the medkit and turned to leave. "How is he?" Hera asked as he walked out of the room.

"He'll pull through, but he'll be off his feet for a while." Kanan replied

"Oh that's a relief." said Hera.

"Is he awake?" Sabine asked.

"No, and I gave him a sedative, so I don't expect him to be for a few hours." Kanan replied.

Later that night, Sabine had a nightmare. She was fighting the Inquisitor again, except this time she got hit by the lightsaber, then she had to watch as Ezra was killed by the Inquisitor. She shot up in bed, breathing hard. She tried to go back to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she could see Ezra getting hit by that lightsaber. After a while she decided to go check on Ezra.

As she walked into the hallway, she saw Hera and Kanan talking in the cockpit. She quickly crossed the hallway and walked into Ezra's room. A while back, Kanan decided that Ezra needed his own room, so he had moved into Heras room, and Ezra had taken Kanans room. It made things awkward for her every once in a while, because the Ghosts walls weren't exactly sound proofed. She sat down in a chair and watched the heart monitor, noting the bland colors that most medical equipment used. She made a mental note to change that in the future. She looked at Ezra, watching his breathing.

Since his first day on the Ghost, she had known he had a crush on her. She had rejected him, of course, but over the past few weeks, he had begun to grow on her. She had developed some small amount of feelings, but she had never admitted that to herself, and tried her best to keep them suppressed. But now, sitting here, after what had happened, she wondered if she could bring herself to accept what she felt. They had saved each other countless times, but this was different. She should be dead, and she knew it.

"Come on Ezra, pull through." Sabine said quietly, "Do it for me." Before she could change her mind, she leaned down and kissed him. "Do it for me."


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Sabine woke to a knock on her door.

"Hey Sabine." Zeb said from the other side, "Ezra's waking up."

Sabine shot out of bed and ran to the door, then stopped and took a deep breath. 'Control yourself Wren.' she thought to herself.

She opened the door and walked quickly down the hall to Ezra's room, where the rest of the crew had already gathered. She pushed between Zeb and Kanan, and saw Ezra sitting up.

"Hey Sabine." He said, usual cocky smile on his face.

"Why did you do that?" she asked as she hugged him.

"You didn't see it." He replied, a little surprised, "I couldn't let you die."

"I'm so sorry Ezra." Sabine said, "I thought you died."

"Hey, it's not your fault." He said as he grabbed her hand. Normally she would have pulled away, but this time she decided not to.

"You would've done the same thing for me." He continued with a grin.

They sat there for a little while, talking, then Kanan informed everyone that Ezra had to take more meds and go to sleep again, so they all left. As Sabine walked out of the room, she turned and smiled at Ezra.

The next few weeks went by in a blur. Sabine volunteered to take care of Ezra whenever possible, much to the boys surprise and enthusiasm. When the next supply run came, Kanan insisted Ezra was still to injured to go, so Sabine volunteered to stay with him on the Ghost. They spent the day cleaning the Ghost, running system checks, and playing holo chess.

"You wanna go again?" Sabine asked as their game ended. "Or are you afraid you'll lose again?"

"You're on, but I have to chant these stupid bandages first." Ezra replied.

"Do you need help?" Sabine asked as he stood up.

"No, I think I can manage." He said "Thanks for the offer though."

Sabine watched him walk to his room. She was still fighting with herself over how she felt about Ezra. On one hand, he was an awkward, shy kid from the streets of Lothal. He tried to hard when he tried to flirt with her, and it was sometimes uncomfortable. On the other hand, he was a sweet guy, and she liked to be around him.

'If he would just loosen up and be himself.' she thought to herself. Her thoughts were broken by a helpless cry coming from down the hall.

"Sabine!" Ezra yelled "Can you come here please?"

Sabine laughed to herself as she got up and walked to his room. She opened the door, and froze. Ezra was standing in the middle of the room, shirtless and fighting with his bandages. Sabine looked at him with wide eyes. Over a year of training as a Jedi had given him a toned form, and her teenage emotions started doing flips.

"Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna help me?" Ezra asked.

Sabine bit her lip, then walked over to the struggling boy. "Sit." she told him as she pulled out a chair.

Ezra sat down, and Sabine examined the bandages. She found the end, and slowly began to unwrap them, being careful not to hurt Ezra more. Once she got it off, she looked at the gash in Ezra's chest. It was red and ugly, but it was starting to heal.

"Oh Ezra." Sabine said as she softly put her hand on his chest. "I'm so sorry Ezra."

They locked eyes for a moment, and before she could react, Ezra leaned forward and kissed her. She was a little shocked, but she let it happen. Ezra pulled back quickly. "I'm sorry Sabine." he said quickly "I had to do that, please don't…"

Before He could finish, Sabine kissed him back. She knew how she felt about him now. They broke apart, and Sabine looked at him smiling.

"Wha- I thought that… Wha.." Ezra stammered.

Sabine laughed at the young mans confusion. She sat down on his legs, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you, Ezra Bridger" she said as she kissed him again.

Still a little shocked, Ezra took a moment to come to his senses and kiss her back. They stayed locked together for a few minutes, then Sabines commlink began to beep.

"Specter 2 to Specter 5, we're home, unlock the Ghost." Hera said.

"Give me a minute." Sabine replied. She kissed Ezra again quickly, then stood up. "You can get those on, right?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied. "Go let them in."

As she walked out of the room Ezra called to her again

"Sabine, wait." He said "Does this mean we're a thing now?"

"What do you think dork?" She laughed.

The commlink beeped again "Anytime now Sabine." Kanan said.

"Coming" she replied into the commlink. "Hey Ezra lets not tell them just yet, they have enough to worry about."

"Agreed" He replied "Now hurry before Kanan cuts a hole in the door."

She laughed and ran to the ramp. It opened and she helped unload the supplies off the speeders.

"What's got you so happy?" Hera asked as they unloaded the supplies. She had noticed the young Mandalorian was grinning from ear to ear.

"It's just a good day." Sabine replied. As the day went on, Sabine stayed in a good mood. Later that night she was drawing a picture of Ezra and herself when Hera walked in.

"Alright spill." Hera laughed as Sabine rushed to hide the picture. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Sabine said as her face turned red.

"Sabine?" Hera said in her mother like voice

"I...Ezra and I...may have...made out." Sabine said sheepishly.

Hera didn't say anything for a moment, then started laughing. Sabine looked at her, confused.

"You're embarrassed about that?" Hera laughed. "Sabine, honey, that's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm thrilled you finally were able to admit your feelings for each other."

"Really?" Sabine asked.

"Of course." Hera replied as she sat down. "I've been waiting for this for almost a year now. It's been a frustrating year, but I guess it's paid off."

"I'm sorry I took so long." Sabine said "I don't know why I did, kissing him is the best idea I've ever had." Hera smiled. "

Well, I'm happy for you Sabine" she said "But let's not say anything to Kanan. He might not be as happy, knowing his apprentice has one more distraction on his mind."


	3. Chapter 3, The Senate Ball

A/N: So I saw the new Solo movie, and it was alright, wasn't exactly my favorite. But there's one scene toward the end they has me SHOOK. I won't spoil it, so you'll have to watch it for yourself, but if you're a fan of Clone Wars or Rebels, you'll be shocked/impressed.

"Hey kids, get up here" Hera said over the Ghost intercom.

"Can we have five minutes?" yelled Ezra "I'm actually winning"

"Sorry kid, but no." Zeb replied "Idiots array for the win"

"I told you not to play Sabbac against Zeb" Sabine said as she walked past. "You'll lose every time."

It had been a few months since the fight with the Inquisitor, and Ezra was doing a lot better. When they were all in the cockpit, Hera turned her seat around to look at them.

"Alright, we've got a new mission." She said as she pressed a button on the console. A hologram of Ahsoka appeared.

"Hey guys, I've got a job, and you guys are the perfect crew for it." She said "I've been in contact with a senator from Ransi. She, and a few other senators sympathetic to the Rebellion, want to leave the Empire, but don't want their families to be harmed because they were traitors. So we've got another way to get them out. There's a senate ball for senators of the mid rim. It's also attended by some members of the Imperial Navy. We're going to crash the party and make it look like we're kidnapping the senators that want out."

"Basically, we're gonna be sending Kanan and Ezra as infiltration." Hera said "We'll also have to send Sabine and Chop to steal info out of Imperial computers."

"So it's a party?" Ezra asked. "You know none of us are good in crowds, right? Plus we're all wanted by the Empire."

"Yes, but you haven't been very active in the mid rim. They won't expect you there." Ahsoka said "Besides, when has being wanted Ezre stopped you? This entire op is going to take three weeks. We'll be inserting Sabine as a new intern for the Ransi Senator. We'll work on getting IDs for Kanan and Ezra. Tano out"

Later that day, they docked with a Rebel cruiser to drop off Sabine. She had to change her hair color, so it was her natural black.

"You know, I kinda like this color" Ezra said as he walked up behind her

"Yeah?" Sabine replied, turning around. "Well take a good long look, because it's not staying like this."

"I'll get to see it again in a few weeks." Ezra laughed. They stood their for a moment in silence, then he wrapped his arms around her. She put her head on his shoulder, and they stood there for a few more moments.

"Be careful." He said finally.

"I'll do my best." She replied as the rest of the crew came into the airlock to say goodbye. "I'll see you in a few weeks." She said as she stepped onto the cruiser.

 _Sabine_

The Cruiser took Sabine to a planet where she boarded an Imperial transport under her new name Alayna Kath. The transport made several stops before landing at a spaceport on Ransi. She grabbed her bag, stepped off the transport, and looked around the landing pad. She was supposed to meet a Senate aid that would approach her first. She walked to the edge of the platform and looked down over the edge.Below her, the city stretched out for miles, then ended against a snow covered plain. It reminded her of her home, Krownest.

"Miss Kath?" A voice asked. She turned around and saw a young boy, probably about 10.

"Yes," She replied.

"Follow me please, Senator Farrad is waiting." He said.

They walked to a speeder, which was operated by a droid. The speeder took them into the city to another landing pad, where there was a small transport. The transport took them an hour away to a large house set into the side of a mountain. They landed, and Sabine saw a young woman, probably about 20, walking towards them.

"Senator Farrad?" She asked

"Yes." The woman replied "And you must be Alayna. Please, come inside." They entered the house and walked into a large room. "My butler droid will take your things to your room." The Senator said. "Come into my office so we can talk privately."

They entered her office, which had a large window looking over the area. The house was set on a large mountain at the end of a valley. The afternoon sun bounced off the white snow, throwing rays of light in every direction.

"It's so beautiful here." Sabine said

"Yes, at least it was until the Empire took over." The Senator replied.

"So what exactly is my role here, Senator?" Sabine asked.

"Well, to get me off world I suppose." The Senator replied with a laugh "And you can call me Leeana, my dear."

"So what exactly is this ball?" Sabine asked, sitting across from Leeana.

"Well, it's a large formal event attended by mid rim senators and Imperial naval officers." Leeana said "It will be held at the capitol building here on Ransi. I've put in my invite for an officer named Balyn Derek, which is your friend. I'm also able to bring one person from my staff, which is where you come in."

"So basically, all the senators that want out will be there?" Sabine asked.

"Exactly" Leeana replied "There will also be access for mid rim command files and data banks."

"Perfect, except I don't have anything to wear" Sabine said with a grin.

"Well, you're about my size." Leanna replied "I'm sure we can find you something."

 _Ezra_

"This is gonna get hot really fast." Ezra said as he finished putting on the black Imperial uniform.

"Yeah, but we'll be outside, so it won't be that bad." Kanan replied. It had been three weeks since Sabine had left, and it was time for the mission to officially start. Ezra, Chopper, and Kanan had picked up an Imperial shuttle from another Rebel cell, as well as fully believable IDs and credentials from Ahsoka. It now appeared they were an Imperial lieutenant commander and his junior officer.

"Alright let's go over this one more time." Kanan said.

"After we land Chopper is going to find a console that has access to mid rim command files." Ezra said for the millionth time. "We're going to make contact with Sabine and Senator Farrad, then blend in. We locate the senators wanting out, then wait for Chop to get finished with the files. Once he does, we contact Hera. Then we leave with the senators, making it look like we kidnapped them."

"Very good." Kanan said. They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Kanan looked at his young apprentice. "Ezra, I want you to try your best to control your feelings tonight." He said.

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked

"Well, I know you and Sabine are a thing." Kanan said.

Ezra's jaw dropped and his face turned red. "How did you…" He began.

"Kid, I've been around almost twice as long as you have, I think I know a thing or two about sensing emotions, especially when they're sitting out in the open like yours." Kanan laughed. "Also I saw you two kissing in the nose gun a few weeks ago. I don't have anything against it, in fact I'm happy for both of you. She's been a lot less stressed these past few weeks, more than she ever has. All I'm saying is, you're both young and impulsive. And Hera had to show me what she looks like so we know. She...Just try to focus on the mission, remember why we're here. Don't get lost in your feelings."

Ezra was confused, but he was distracted as they came out of hyperspace and Ransi came into view.

"Woah, what are those?" Ezra asked, pointing at a group of ships in orbit over the planet. "I've never seen those before."

They were star destroyers, but they were a little smaller and thinner, more dagger shaped than a triangle. They also had 2 command towers.

"They're Venators." Kanan said. "They were more commonly known as Jedi Cruisers. They were the main fleet ship for the Republic during the Clone Wars. The Empire doesn't use them much anymore. They're good ships though, well armed and tough to bring down."

"What's with the two separate towers?" Ezra asked.

"Well, during the war, a lot of battles were won or lost by fighters and bombers, as well as the capital ships. The Venators primary function was fighter carrier. Sort of like one of those Imperial light carriers, but on a larger scale. One tower controlled the ship and ground forces, one controlled the fighters."

Kanan rolled his eyes as Ezra took a breath and continued to ask questions about the war all the way to the surface.

 _Sabine_

The day of the senate ball had arrived, and Sabine was standing in the biggest closet she had ever seen.

"This is so...weird." Sabine said.

"How so?" Leeana asked.

"Well, I only have the same three jumpsuits that I wear under my armor." Sabine replied "How do you ever choose what to wear?"

"Well, I just match my clothes to the occasion." Leeana said as she pulled a dress off the wall. "Here, try this on."

Later that night, the two of them were on their way to the capital.

"Alright, there are the others." Leanna said, pointing to a group of Senators. They walked over to the group, and Leeana introduced Sabine.

After a while, Sabine excused herself and walked away from the group to get a better feel of the place, scoping out the best exits and the amount of security, which was surprisingly minimal. As she made her way back to the senators, she saw two Imperial officers standing with Leeana. One was unusually short, almost as short as her. He turned slightly, and she knew it was Ezra. She smiled as she walked towards the group.

 _Ezra_

Ezra and Kanan landed the shuttle and entered the building unopposed.

"Looks like these uniforms are paying off." Ezra said once they were in the lift alone.

"Yeah, and those IDs" said Kanan. He looked at his data pad for the location info. "Ok, we're supposed to meet the senator in the far north corner, near the pillars with flags on them." Kanan told him.

"Got it" Ezra replied. The lift opened, and they stepped out into a large courtyard.

"There they are." Kanan said, pointing to a small group of people.

"I don't see Sabine." Ezra said.

"She's around here somewhere." Kanan replied.

They greeted the Senators, then blended into the crowd. Ezra was standing next to Kanan, listening to him drone on about the military service he supposedly had, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hey there stranger." A familiar voice said.

He turned, and for a split second, he didn't recognize the girl standing in front of him. "Sabi..." He started, before she covered his mouth.

"Sshhh, don't blow our cover!" She said. "My cover name is Alayna."

Ezra was speechless. She was wearing a plain hot pink dress that fell to her ankles. It was loose, but still hugged her body, and it made her look a lot older.

"Wow." He said "You look...I can't even find the right word."

Sabine rolled her eyes and smiled. She loved him, but he was still a complete dork sometimes. "Yeah? Well I can, I'm freezing!" She said as she rubbed her arms.

Ezra laughed, then heard Choppers beeping in his earpiece. "Alright, Chops at the data center, so it shouldn't be to long now." He said.

"Well it'll take him a few minutes to bypass the firewall, so what are we gonna do?" She asked

"I don't know." He replied.

Sabine looked around him and saw musicians tuning their instruments. "Come on, I have an idea." She said as she took his hand.

She pulled him to the open area where the musicians were, then waited.

"What are we doing Sabine?" Ezra asked nervously. He hated being in the middle of everyone. It felt too exposed.

"Well, it's a ball, and from what I remember from back on Mandalore, people dance at balls." Sabine replied "Except me, I was never old enough until after I left."

As the musician started, Ezra grinned "Well come on then" he said as he took her hand. He pulled her close, and they began dance.

"I didn't know you knew how to dance." Sabine said, surprised as he spun her around.

"I'm full of surprises." He laughed He didn't tell her that Hera had spent the last three days teaching him how to dance. Somehow she had known he was going to need it. They continued to dance for a while, and Ezra was content to stay that way, but Chopper informed him that he had downloaded all the files he could get. Ezra sighed, then leaned in and kissed her.

"Time to go." He said when they broke.

"Let's wait, Kanan still has to gather the senators" Sabine said before she pulled him in and kissed him back. They stayed locked together for a few moments, then Chopper began beeping again.

"Great, Chop thinks they're on to him." Ezra said "We've gotta find Kanan and get out of here." He took her hand and they walked back towards Kanan and the senators.

Sabine saw a door open in the corner, and saw Chopper rolling out. "There's Chop." She said.

"Karabast." Ezra said as troopers walked out the door behind Chop.

"Hey droid, stop right there!" One of the troopers yelled. Chopper kept on rolling, and the trooper raised his blaster.

"Woah trooper, I've got this" Kanan said as he pulled out a blaster. "Come on droid."

They began walking towards the exit, and Kanan gave a nod to Ezra, who nodded back and pulled out a blaster and a locator beacon.

"Here goes nothing" Ezra said as he pushed the locator. A few moments went by, then they heard explosions, and alarms started blaring. There was blaster fire coming from the landing area, then Zeb and Rex kicked down the door.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Zeb yelled "Sorry to ruin this beautiful evening, but I've got money to make!"

Ezra and Kanan both raised their blasters and shot the troopers near Chop. They then pointed them at the senators they were 'kidnapping'. Sabine pulled her dress up slightly and grabbed a blaster she had hidden on her leg. She grabbed Leanna and pulled her toward the door as Zeb shot two troopers with batons that were closing on her. People were running everywhere, and with Ezra and Kanan shooting at them, the Imperial troopers didn't know who was friend or foe. They got the senators to the edge of the platform, still firing at the troopers.

"You have nowhere to go!" A trooper yelled. "Let the senators go!"

Suddenly, the Ghost rose from under the landing pad. The ramp opened, and they dragged the senators inside.

"Alright Hera, we're all onboard." Kanan said "Let's get out of here."

"Copy that" Hera replied as they sped away from the surface. "We've got TIEs incoming! Man your stations and hold them off while I prep the jump!"

Sabine ran to the nose gun and began blasting the fighters as they screamed toward them.

"I've got them." Ezra said from the top gun.

"Bet I get a kill before you." Sabine said

"Alright, coordinates locked, here we go!" Hera said as they jumped to hyperspace. As the black of space turned to blue, Sabine jumped out of her seat.

"How many did you get?" Ezra asked as he slid down the ladder.

"Four." Sabine said "What about you?"

"Five." Ezra said with the worst attempt at a straight face she had ever seen.

"Oh shut up." Sabine laughed as she pushed him. "You probably only got one."

"Well I got six, so beat that." Zeb said as he walked up. They walked to the cargo hold, where the Senators were talking with Hera and Kanan.

"Thank you so much." Leeana said, shaking Heras hand.

"Of course." Hera replied. "We're always trying to help someone in need."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry I took so long to get chapter 3, so here's a short filler chapter to make up for it.

Later that night the Senators slept on cots in the cargo hold. Hera and Rex were in the cockpit going over the data Chop had managed to steal. Kanan was asleep, and Zeb and Chop were playing holochess. Sabine had just gotten out of the shower and changed into her black jumpsuit that went under her armor.

"Move that piece to the left." She said to Zeb as she walked back to her room. "He'll have you in three if you don't."

Zeb looked at her, then at the table, then at her. Chopper laughed and made a series of rude remarks in his droid language.

Sabine walked into her room and sat down at her desk. She looked at her sketchbook and thought about drawing until she fell asleep. Then she looked at the dress that the Senator had let her borrow. She remembered the dance that she and Ezra had shared and smiled. It had been a good night, but had been cut short by business. She wondered what it would have been like if they had actually been two Imperials at a dance together, instead of rebels crashing the party. An idea came to her, and she began digging through the box that served as her extra storage. Most of the stuff was either art related or explosive related, and a few were both. But there was one item in there that she was looking for in particular.

She finally found it at the bottom of the box. It was an old music player she had picked up just after she had joined the crew. It had a few songs on there, she knew, but not like the ones she was wanting. She hooked into the holo net and used a program she had designed to download a couple of songs. Once she had what she needed, she poked her head out the door. Everyone was still to occupied with what they were doing to notice her cross the hallway to Ezra's room. She walked in and found him sitting on the floor, meditating.

"Hey." He said as he opened his eyes. "Some night, huh."

"Yeah, it was." She laughed.

"I had fun though." Ezra said as he stood up.

"Me to." Sabine replied. "You wanna have some more fun?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Come on" Sabine said as she took his hand. She looked out the door, and when it was clear she pulled him over to her room.

"Sabine, why are we in your room?" He asked nervously.

"Because." Sabine replied "Our dance tonight was cut short, but luckily I found this." She said as she held up the music player. She pushed the play button, and soft music began coming from the little box. "So let's finish this dance." She put her arms around him and pulled him closer.

Ezra laughed and did the same, and they began to dance. "You've got more surprises than I do." He said.

She smiled softly and they spun around the tiny room for a few minutes, then Ezra pulled her closer and kissed her. They fell on the ground, but neither of them cared. As they lay in each other's arms, Sabine felt the Ghost lurch as it came out of hyperspace. A few minutes later, the two teens were still pressed together as the Ghost was rocked by blaster fire.

The alarm began blaring, and they could here Chopper beeping frantically.

"Kids, get to your stations!" Hera yelled from the cockpit.

"What's going on?" Sabine asked as she ran to the nose gun.

"We made a pit stop for fuel and were recognized." Hera said "Hyperdrive is still recharging, so we have to hold these TIEs off until I can get a jump."

The crew jumped into action, firing at any fighter that came into their sights.

"How much longer Hera?" Ezra yelled.

"Three minutes." Hera replied.

As Sabine blasted another TIE, there was a bright flash, and a star destroyer exited hyperspace right in front of them.

"Karabast!" Hera yelled as she flipped the Ghost around. Two more star destroyers exited hyperspace, and they were surrounded.

"Great, what now?" Zeb asked. They flew around for another minute, and as Sabine shot another fighter, something caught her eye.

"Guys I don't think the destroyers were here for us." She said. "But I know how we're getting out of this."

"What do you mean?" Kanan asked.

"Those destroyers are headed for the fuel depot." Sabine explained. "If we can rupture the fuel tanks, boom, three less destroyers, and a distraction to get out."

There was a pause. "It could work." Hera said. "But we're going to have to be fast. That blast is going to be massive."

Hera swung the Ghost around to line up for a pass on the station. "You ready Sabine?" She asked

"Let's go" Sabine replied.

As they flew toward the station, Sabine poured as much fire as possible onto the main fuel tanks. They ruptured, and the entire station was engulfed in blue flame. Hera turned the Ghost up and away from the explosion. Seconds later, a massive explosion rocked the Ghost as the remaining fuel tanks exploded under the pressure and heat. Sabine ran to the Phantom, where Ezra was sitting. She looked out the window to view her handy work.

A massive blue green sun had appeared where the station had been. The nose of the closest star destroyer had been sheared away and sent hurtling into the command tower of the destroyer next to it. This caused the second destroyer to list to one side. As they watched, it crashed into the third star destroyer, taking a large chunk off of one side.

"Hang on everyone!" Hera called. The burning star destroyers disappeared as the Ghost shot into hyperspace.

"Nice shot." Ezra said

"What can I say?" Sabine laughed, "I have a thing for making stuff go boom."

"You sure do." Ezra laughed. "Now where were we?"

Sabine wrapped her arms around him and kissed him slowly They stood together for a moment, then Zeb walked into the Phantom.

"Hey Sabine, great sho- ahh!" He cried as he saw them. "Karabast! I'm never going to be able to unsee that now"

Sabine and Ezra both laughed. "You better get used to it Zeb." Sabine said "You'll probably see it a lot more."

"Gah at least you were only kissing, not doing...other things." Zeb said as he turned to leave. Sabine laughed again, then wrapped her arms around Ezra again and pulled him close.


	5. Chapter 5

It was late, and Sabine heard Ezra walking down the hall again. It had been 3 days since Ahsokas death at the hands of Vader, and every night Ezra had walked down the hallway crying. She wanted to comfort him, but Hera had advised against it.

"He needs space, they both do." She had said.

Kanan was rarely seen anymore, except when he came inside, but even then he shut himself in his room alone. Hera had been sleeping on the spare bunk in Sabines room for the last few nights to give him space. Ezra stayed in his room as well, except at night, when he shuffled down the hallway to wherever he went. He was always back in his room by morning, but wherever he went was still a mystery. It was killing her to know he was hurting and not be able to help him. But she knew Hera was going through the same thing, so she trusted her. Still, it wasn't making it any easier.

As he passed her room, Sabine wrestled with her better judgement, then rolled out of bed. Careful not to wake Hera, she crept out of the room and followed Ezra at a distance. She watched as he pulled down the ladder that led to the roof and begin to climb. He opened the hatch, then crawled out into the night.

"So that's where you've been going." She whispered to herself.

Sabine waited until she thought he would be settled, then followed him onto the roof. When she made it to the top, she paused as the cold wind blew through her hair. She heard a noise, and turned toward the front of the Ghost. She saw Ezra sitting with his knees in his chest, crying softly near the cockpit. She walked up slowly, using all her skills to be as quiet as possible.

"Hey." She said softly, making Ezra jump.

He looked at her with red, tear filled eyes. "Hey." He replied as he quickly wiped his eyes.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Sabine asked, pointing next to him.

"No." Ezra replied as he looked away.

Sabine smiled, knowing he couldn't turn her away. She sat down, and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"It's all my fault Sabine." Ezra said finally

"What?" Sabine replied, shocked "No, Ezra it's not your fault."

Ezra looked at her, eyes watering again. "How is it not?" He asked "I didn't listen to her or Kanan. I followed Maul. I went against everything they had taught me. If I hadn't opened the temple, she would still be here!"

He began to cry again, and Sabine felt helpless. She didn't have much experience in this field.

"Shh, it's alright." She said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm a failure, Sabine." Ezra said through his tears. "Nobody wants me here anymore. Kanan hates me for blinding him, so does Hera. Rex hates me because I killed Ahsoka."

"That's not true and you know it." Sabine said as she held him tighter. "I still want you here."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Sabine realized Ezra had fallen asleep in her arms. She laughed to herself. It was probably the first time he had slept in days. She kissed him on top of his head, then looked up into the night sky. She heard a noise behind her, turned, and saw Hera in the hatch. She smiled and gave a thumbs up, then crawled back down the ladder. Sabine turned back around and tucked Ezra's head under her chin. Eventually she fell asleep as well.

When she woke, the sun was just starting to rise, and there was a blanket wrapped around the two of them. She felt Ezra moving, so she moved her chin off his head and looked at him.

"Good morning." She said, smiling at him.

His eyes were still red, but only slightly. Before he could respond, she leaned down and kissed him slowly.

"Feel better?" She asked when she pulled away.

"Yeah, I think so." Ezra replied

"Good." She laughed softly. She kissed him again quickly, then unwrapped her arms from around him. "Come on, let's get inside before Zeb eats all the food."

They made their way to the kitchen area, and sure enough, Zeb was there eating breakfast.

"Good morning lovebirds." He said casually.

Chopper laughed, but stopped when Sabine shot him a dirty look. After they ate, Sabine returned to her room. A few minutes later, Hera came in.

"So, how is he?" She asked.

"Well I think he's better now, but he still needs a little time." Sabine replied

"I think he's still convinced Kanan hates him, but it'll pass."

"That's good" Hera replied. She sounded relieved. "Now if we could just do the same thing for Kanan."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So I've hit a wall coming up with ideas. I know where I want the story to go, but I'm having trouble getting there. So now I'm asking you, the amazing people of Fanfiction, for input. This is an AU, but I'm still trying to follow canon (loosely), at least right now. I need a chapter that will bridge this chapter with Trials of the Darksaber without leaving too big of a time gap. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! And as always, thanks for reading and enjoy!**

"When did Kanan teach you that?" Sabine asked as the walker plummeted into the abyss below.

"He didn't." Ezra replied.

There was a coldness in his voice, and it scared her a little. The past few months had been rough, sure. But there was something different about Ezra, and Sabine wasn't sure if that was a good thing. They made it to the Ghost, and Sabine got an even bigger shock. Ezra actually started arguing with Hera. Sabine watched him go as he got mad and stormed off to his room.

"What's wrong with him?" Hera asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Sabine replied. "He's been...off, I guess, the past few missions. He just took control of a walker and dropped it off the platform. I'm kind of worried to be honest."

"Maybe he just needs someone to talk to again." Hera said "Kanan is still being stubborn and I think it's been affecting Ezra. He just wants his teacher back."

"Maybe." Sabine replied.

They flew back to Chopper Base, and Ezra remained in his room. Later that day, Sabine had had enough of his pouting and knocked on his door.

"Ezra, can I come in?" She asked in the sweetest voice she could muster, hoping that would get his attention.

"No." He answered.

Sabine ignored him and opened the door anyway. "C'mon Ezra, we need to talk." She said as she walked in.

He shut the drawer under his bunk and turned to face her. "What do you want?" He snapped.

It stung a little, and she frowned. In all the time she had known him he had never talked to her like that, even when they had dealt with Seabo.

"What is up with you today?" She asked

"Nothing." He replied.

"Something is." She said "You've been so angry the past few days Ezra. First you yelled at Zeb and Chop the other day, then you argued with Hera earlier. Now you're getting mad at me for no reason, and I want to know why. I just want to help you."

"Then leave me alone!" He yelled suddenly.

A force wave blasted from his clenched fists, not powerful, but it still scared her. Sabine felt her eyes begin to water, but she turned away before he could see. She hesitated at the door, then slowly walked to her room. She sat down in her chair and put her head in her hands as she began to cry. A few moments later she heard her door open and felt Hera sit next to her.

"Shh, it ok." Hera said softly as she put her arm around the Mandalorian.

"What is wrong with him?" Sabine asked "That's not my Ezra. He would never yell at me, no matter what happened."

Ezra shook his head, trying to clear it.

'I'm such an idiot.' He thought.

He didn't know why he had yelled at Sabine. No, he knew exactly what it was. He looked at the drawer under his bunk where he kept the Sith holocron he had taken from Malachor. The hate and rage it had been feeding him was starting to wear off. He knew it was wrong to use it, but it was helping him where Kanan wasn't, so he didn't see the big deal. But now it had cost him. He gave it a few minutes then, determined to apologize, opened his door.

He turned toward Sabines room and came almost nose to nose with Hera.

"Ezra Bridger." She said in a tone that reminded him of a mother scolding a child. "You had better get in there and apologize right now."

"I know." He said, looking at the ground. She never used his full name, so he knew she was mad. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I yelled."

"Don't tell me." Hera replied, her tone softening a little "She's heartbroken Ezra. She's just concerned about you, but now she's confused and thinks you hate her."

"I don't though." He said.

"I know that, but you really hurt her." Hera said. "Go on, I hope you can make this right."

With that she turned and went to the cockpit. Ezra sighed and walked over to Sabines room. He tried to open it, but found it locked.

"Sabine?" He called "Sabine I'm sorry I yelled, can I come in?"

No response.

He looked toward the cockpit where Hera was watching him. She just shrugged and turned around. Ezra groaned and put his forehead against the door.

"Sabine, please let me in." He called again. "I love you Sabine, you know that. Just let me in so we can talk."

He heard a beep, then the door slid open. Surprised and off balance, he fell to the floor. He shook his head and found himself looking at two black and pink armored boots. He looked up at their owner, who was looking at him with her arms crossed.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice shaky. Her eyes were red, and for the first time Ezra realized how badly he'd hurt her.

"I wanted to apologize." He said, picking himself up.

Sabine just stared at him as he stood up. A few tense, silent moments went by.

"I'm waiting." Sabine said finally.

"Oh, right." Ezra said quickly, scratching his head.

He hesitated for a moment, then reached for her. Sabine flinched as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Sabine, I'm sorry for yelling at you." He said " I don't know why I did, but I know you were just trying to help me. I love you and hate seeing you mad, so can you not be mad at me? Please?"

Sabine continued looking at him in silence, and he was afraid she wouldn't accept it. Suddenly, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

"That'll do for now." She said "But if you want more, you'll have to prove it." Before he could respond, she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door. "Come on, lets go see if Hondos worth anything.

 _Days later_

After escaping Mauls grasp, Hera let the crew have a day to recover. Of course, recover just meant doing maintenance around the Ghost and Chopper Base. But Ezra managed to convince Hera to let him and Sabine have some alone time, so that evening, the two of them climbed to the highest point of Chopper Base.

"Finally, some peace." Sabine said as she settled in between Ezra's legs, laying back against his chest.

Ezra put his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. The two of them sat there in silence, watching the sunset, just happy to be together.

"You ever wonder what it would be like to not be Rebels?" Sabine asked finally.

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked, confused.

"I mean if we were like, Imperials or something, on some other planet. Just two teenagers, living like anyone else." She said.

"I don't know." Ezra replied "I've never really thought about it, and you were an Imperial and hated it."

"Yeah, that's true." She laughed. She swatted his hand as it explored down her stomach and toward her waist. "I'm still to mad at you for that kinda stuff." She said, leaning back to look at him.

"What? Why?" Ezra asked.

"You know why." She replied.

Ezra rolled his eyes and leaned down to kiss her.

"Ah ah, not so fast lover boy." Sabine laughed, putting her finger against his lips. "How much do you love me?"

"Now this just isn't fair." Ezra groaned.

"How so?" She asked.

"Because" he replied, pushing past her hand and leaning down to where his face was an inch from hers, "You know there's nothing big enough I can compare it to."

Sabine laughed and kissed him slowly. When they broke, She turned around so she was facing him and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"I knew you couldn't stay mad forever." Ezra said sarcastically.

"Don't push it." Sabine replied as she put her arms around his neck and kissed him again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this took a while to get out, I hit an idea block for a while. Thank you to Opinionated Shipper for the prompt for this. Hope you guys enjoy!**

"Stop! Don't hurt him, please! No no no! Ezra!"

Sabine woke herself up screaming. She shot up, breathing hard. Both tears and sweat were running down her face. Shaking her head, she looked around her room. No ghosts, no witches. Just her and one blaster she had a death grip on in her right hand.

"Sabine?" Hera said, running through the door.

Sabine jerked out of instinct and pointed her pistol at Hera.

"Woah Sabine!" Hera said, throwing her hands up. "It's alright kiddo, calm down."

Sabine came back to her senses and dropped her pistol. She jumped out of her bed and ran to Hera, throwing her arms around the Twilek and burying her face in her shoulder.

"Shh, it's ok." Hera said as the young Mandolorian began to cry.

"What's wrong with me Hera?" Sabine asked.

This wasn't the first time it had happened. It had been two days since Sabine, Ezra, and Kanan had come back from Dathomir. Sabine hadn't talked about it much, but Kanan and Ezra had filled in the blanks, so Hera knew about the cave and what Sabine had gone through. Ever since then, Sabine had gotten almost no sleep because of her nightmares.

Hera sighed. Ezra had been having nightmares too, but she knew they were different, he had told her about them. "I don't know." She said "Maybe you should talk to Ezra about it."

"What?" Sabine asked, looking up. "Why?"

"Well he's your boyfriend for one." Hera said "And for another, he went through the same thing you did."

"He didn't get posessed though." Sabine said confused.

"No, but he had to watch you get possessed." Hera replied. "And I don't know what you remember, but he told me he had to fight you, and I'm sure that was just as bad."

Sabines eyes got wide. "He didn't tell me that." She said softly.

"You see," Hera said, "You two need to talk about what happened."

Sabine nodded and whipped her eyes. "I will in the morning."

She managed to get a few hours of sleep before waking up to the smell of bacon. She threw an oversized shirt on over her shorts and bra and wandered into the kitchen, where she found Ezra sitting at the table eating.

"Good morning gorgeous." Ezra laughed through a mouthful of food. She hadn't slept in almost three days now and looked like hell, but she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"What time is it?" She asked, sitting across from him.

"Barely seven." Ezra replied with a grin, "You want some food? I accidentally made more than I should've."

Sabine didn't want anything but a peaceful night of sleep, but she nodded. Ezra got up and put bacon and eggs on a plate, then came back and slid the plate across the table.

"You ok?" He asked as he sat down, noticing how red her eyes were.

"Hmm? Yeah I'm ok." She said, looking at her food.

"Hey look at me." Ezra said, taking her hands. "I don't have to use the Force to be able to tell you're lying to me."

Sabine looked at him and gave him a halfhearted smile. "I hate your Jedi powers sometimes." She said.

A moment of silence went by as she looked down again, trying to decide where to begin.

"I've got a problem." She began.

She told him all about the nightmares she had been having, about the demons and spirits and witches that she had been seeing around every corner since they came back from Dathomir. Ezra listened intently, holding her hands as she spoke. He had known that something had been bothering her, but hadn't been for sure what it was. His own nightmares were still a thing, but he had been able to supress them for now. Eventually he knew he'd have to deal with it, but now he was more concerned about Sabine.

"So yeah, I haven't been able to sleep very well lately." She finished.

Ezra could tell she was still holding something back, but she had told him enough.

"It's alright." He said softly. "They're only nightmares. They go away eventually, trust me. But until they do, they suck to go through alone, so if it happens again don't be afraid to come get me."

 _Later that night_

Ezra had just drifted off to sleep when he heard his door open. He rolled over and saw Sabine standing in the doorway.

"Sabine?" He asked, confused.

She didn't respond, and Ezra realized she was crying. "Sabine what's wrong?" He asked as he got up, flipping on the light.

"I...I had another nightmare" Sabine said, fighting her tears.

"Shh, it wasn't real" Ezra said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It was though." She cried.

"Alright" Ezra said "Come here." He led her over to his bed and they sat down. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She said.

"Sabine, I told you the best way to get over these things is to talk about them." Ezra said.

"You sound like Kanan." She said as she lay her head on his shoulder.

"Ok ouch." Ezra laughed softly.

A few moments went by, and Ezra wasn't sure if she would tell him.

"I killed you." She said finally, almost whispering.

"What?" Ezra asked.

"When we were in the cave, and I got possessed by that spirit." She said "You never told me we fought. But I kind of remember it. It was like a holo movie, I could watch but not control it. That's my nightmare, that I kill you, then the spirit leaves me with what I've done."

Ezra put his arms around her as she started to cry again. "Shh, its not real, I'm right here." He looked at her and smiled softly. "That's my nightmare too if you wanna know." He said.

"What do you mean?" Sabine asked, looking up at him.

"I told you, I have nightmares too." He replied. "My current one is loosing you and Kanan in that cave."

"Oh" Sabine said, putting her head against his shoulder again. They sat together in silence as Sabine calmed down.

"This is an awkward question, but can I stay in here tonight?" Sabine asked.

"Of course." Ezra replied, kissing her.

He lay down on the bunk and she lay down facing him. They talked about anything and everything but their nightmares for a little while, until Sabine yawned. She kissed him then pushed herself against him and tucked her head under his chin as he put his arms around her. She closed her eyes and slept for the first time in days. Ezra stayed awake for a few more minutes, listening to her breathing. He was surprised at how fast she had fallen asleep. Eventually he fell asleep as well.

The next morning, he woke up before she did. He kissed her on the forehead and watched her sleep for a few moments. Suddenly, he heard Kanans voice down the hall.

"Sabine?" He called "Has anyone seen Sabine?"

"If she's not in her room check and see if Ezra's here." Hera called from the cockpit "They might've gone off somewhere."

Ezra froze as he heard Kanans footsteps approaching his door. He put his head down and closed his eyes as he heard a beep and his door slid open.

"Hey kid have you seen...oh." Kanan said. There was a beep as Kanan activated his communicator. "Hey, come down to Ezra's room." He said softly.

Moments later Ezra heard footsteps as Hera walked into the room. "Why are you...oh my."

"I heard her get up last night." Kanan said, laughing softly. "She had another nightmare. I guess she thought she'd be safe in here. Ezra was probably freaking out, but I'm glad she came in here, looks like it helped both of them."

"Well, I hope they don't plan on getting used to this right now." Hera said.

"Why?" Kanan asked.

"Kanan." Hera replied, her voice sounding like the answer was obvious, "They're teenagers dear."

"So?" Kanan said "We've been in the same room for almost four years."

"Yes, but that's about to be different." Hera said "Speaking of which, when are we going to tell them?"

"What that we're getting married first chance we get?" Kanan laughed. "I don't know, whenever you want."

Ezra heard them walk out, and as the door closed, he let out a breath.

"Are they gone?" Sabine whispered.

"Yeah." Ezra replied, opening his eyes. He looked down at Sabine and smiled. "So they're finally getting married."

"I believe you and Chop owe me some credits." Sabine laughed softly.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Heyyyyy. Yeah. It's been a while. I know. But now I'm back! And I'm going to have regular updates as much as possible. As always thanks for reading and enjoy**!

Sabines nightmares continued, but they weren't as bad as they had been. Now she had another thought on her mind. The Darksaber. The ancient lightsaber of Tarre Vizsla, the first and only known Mandalorian Jedi, and the symbol of House Vizsla and Deathwatch. They had picked it up on Dathomir, and now she was worried. She had overheard Kanan and Rau talking about it, and her name had been mentioned. They wanted her to go back home and convince her kin to join the Alliance. Home. The thought of going there terrified her. There was nowhere she wanted to be farther away from, but at the same time, she desperately wanted to go back. She hadn't seen her parents or little brother in years, not since that day.

She looked at her helmet and sighed as Chopper knocked on the door.

"Come in." She called. The droid rolled through the door, telling her a meeting had been called.

"Who's there?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Chopper let out a series of beeps.

"Everyone huh?" She sighed again and jumped down from her bunk, patting the droid on the head as she walked past.

She walked into the room and found the rest of the crew and Rau all waiting on her. She knew exactly what the meeting was about.

"I won't do it." She said.

"So you do know what the Darksaber is." Rau said.

"I know it's caused nothing but trouble since Maul took it." Sabine replied.

"Maul used it to divide our people, you can wield it to do the opposite." Rau said calmly.

"Wield it?" Sabine cried "You're crazy, Kanan, tell him he's crazy!"

"Consider what he has to say." The blind Jedi replied.

"What?" Sabine and Ezra both said at the same time, shocked.

"I don't think it's a coincidence the blade came into your possession." Kanan continued. "Everything happens for one reason or another."

"Yeah, but Kanan." Ezra said "That doesn't mean she can fight with it. No offense." He added quickly.

"Go on." Sabine said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, it's taken me a while to learn, and I use the force." Ezra said, twirling his lightsaber above his open hand.

"The combat training isn't as important as what this blade represents to the Mandalorians." Kanan said.

"Right, you want me to lead my people." Sabine snapped. "I don't know if you know this, but I'm not that popular with my family these days."

"That can change." Rau said.

"No it can't! You don't know what you're talking about." Sabine said, beginning to panic.

"I know family is important to the Wrens, just like it is to all Mandalorians." Rau said, standing.

"I have a family, here on this ship, I don't need them. Sabine said.

"But we do." Hera said.

"Hera." Sabine said, looking at the Twilek that had basically taken the place of her mother. She had told Hera everything about her leaving her family, and had expected Hera to be on her side. She was a little hurt that she wasn't.

"If there's a chance you can raise an army of Mandalorians for our cause, I have to ask you to do it." Hera said.

Sabine sighed. She knew Hera was right. They needed troops.

"Alright I'll do it." She said. "Just give me the stupid saber." She reached out for it, but Kanan pulled it back.

"Listen, once people know you have it, you will be challenged." He said. "You need to be able to defend yourself."

"I'll try." Sabine replied.

"First lesson." Ezra said "Don't try, just learn."

"Give me the sword, I'm gonna learn how to kick your.."

"Sabine, focus!" Kanan said.

Sabine sighed again. "Okay." She said, grabbing the lightsaber.

As soon as she touched it, her nightmares came flooding back. She wanted to drop the saber and scream, but she controlled herself. She didn't want them to think she was weak. She could tell the others were talking, but she couldn't really hear them. One by one the crew left to resume their normal tasks.

"Hey, you ok?" Ezra asked as he walked by her.

"Hmm, yeah I'm fine." She replied.

"Okay, well, get your stuff packed, Kanan wants to leave in a couple hours." He said as he walked out of the room. Sabine looked at the saber in her hand, then, as another flash of a nightmare hit her, she ran after him.

"Ezra, wait." She called. He turned and gave her one of his trademark smiles, and immediately she felt better.

"What's up?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"I...my nightmares are back." Sabine said

"I know." Ezra said. "When you took the saber from Kanan, you gave off a lot of fear. Kanan felt it too." He stepped forward and put his arms around her to comfort her.

"I don't know if I can do this." Sabine said as she put her head on his shoulder.

"You'll be fine." Ezra said softly "I believe in you."

A few hours later, Sabine, Kanan, and Ezra were heading away from the base in a speeder.

"Why can't we do this back at the base?" Sabine asked.

"Less distractions, less people watching keeps you focused." Kanan said.

"Plus you'll do less damage this way." Ezra chipped in.

"I'll damage you if you don't shut up." Sabine said.

Ezra laughed and drove the speeder into the small crater Kanan had told him to go to. Sabine began to get frustrated as they unpacked crates.

"When you said you were going to train me, I thought there would be more fighting involved." She said.

"Hey, it's always like this, he was the same way with me." Ezra said

"Yeah and look how well you turned out." Kanan said.

"Is he being serious?" Sabine asked.

"I can never tell." Ezra replied.

"Lets get started" Kanan said, tossing a long stick toward her.

"What's this?" She asked

"Training saber." Kanan said. "Until you practice, a real saber is to dangerous."

"I already know how to fight with a stick." Sabine protested.

"Then this should be easy for you." Kanan said, holding up another stick.

Sabine twisted her back, loosening herself up, then charged at Kanan. He blocked it easily.

"That might work on a stormtrooper, but not me." He said.

Impulsively, Sabine lunged again. Kanan blocked again and knocked her to the ground.

"And that's your head. Every mistake is a limb lost. Ezra will take you through the forms. I know you can fight, but give him a chance and listen to him. In some ways he's a better teacher than me."

Sabine sighed and turned toward Ezra. He taught her, slowly at first, on the basic forms of lightsaber combat. Eventually she got the hang of it, and they began to spar.

"So what's the big deal with this lightsaber anyway?" Ezra asked as they took a break.

"It's complicated." Sabine said. "It's one of my peoples greatest possessions."

"How did they build it?" Ezra asked.

"Kanan told me lightsaber design was a Jedi secret."

"Well, it was a Jedi that built it." Sabine said. "My mother told me the story when I was little. A long time ago, one of my ancestors, Tarre Vizsla, became the only Mandalorian Jedi. He was unique, and a great warrior. He wore a combination of Mandalorian armor and Jedi robes. He wanted a saber as unique as he was. So when it was time to craft his lightsaber, he created one with a black blade and a different shape and hilt. When he died, the Jedi kept his saber. When the Old Republic fell, some of House Vizsla's warriors sacked the Jedi Temple, and took the saber. They used it to unify the Mandalorian houses and bring peace to my people. It's been passed down to the leader of House Vizsla ever since, that is until Maul took it."

"Maul?" Ezra said angrily "What happened?"

"During the Clone Wars, right about the time I was born, Maul gathered an army of criminals and took control of Mandalore. He killed Pre Vizsla, the head of House Vizsla at the time, and took the saber, then he used it to kill the Duchess of Mandalore. The only thing that stopped him was a Republic invasion. It's his fault Mandalore is the way it is."

"You learning to fight with this saber can help make things right." Ezra said.

"I don't know, Ezra." Sabine said, looking away. "The things that happened, the things I went through...I don't know if I can do that again."

Before Ezra could respond, Kanan walked over the hill.

"We don't have time for idol talk." He called.

Sabine groaned and stood up, taking a ready stance. Ezra stood as well and they began to spar again. A few days went by, and Sabine grew more and more frustrated with her inability to actually beat Ezra. Eventually, Rau arrived, giving them a much needed rest.

"I've got something for you." Rau said, opening a crate.

"Vambraces?" Sabine said excitedly, picking up the devices "Where did you get these?"

"Try them on." Rau said, laughing at her enthusiasm. "Grappling line, paralyzing darts, repulsors, everything needed to combat the abilities of a Jedi. Now go take Bridger down a peg or two." Sabine put the braces on and smiled, then and walked toward Ezra.

"What ya got there?" He asked.

"More than you can handle." Sabine replied confidently.

They took up positions, then Ezra attacked. Sabine blocked the first few hits, then rolled and used the repulsor cannon to throw him back. He rolled a couple of times, then landed on his back. Sabine laughed as he struggled to his feet.

"Hey, no fair, where did you get those?" Ezra cried.

"Special delivery." Sabine said, looking at her new weapons happily.

"Hey!" Kanan yelled angrily "Is this a game for you?"

"No game, just outsmarting my opponent." Sabine said "Care to take a shot?"

She activated the grappling line and threw it at Kanan. The line wrapped around him, catching him off guard. Sabine pulled on the line, trying to knock him down, but Kanan used the Force to loosen the line enough to get to his lightsaber. He activated it and cut the line, then grabbed it before she could pull it back in. Kanan pulled on the line, and Sabine flew through the air toward him, she hit the ground in front of him, and before she could get up, Kanan put his lightsaber in front of her face.

"History lesson, the Jedi won the war against Mandalore!" Kanan yelled. "These tricks may save you from time to time, but they won't keep you alive in the long run! Only training and discipline will do that!"

Sabine was angry, but she was more than that. For the first time since she had joined the crew, she was scared of Kanan. She couldn't let it show, however. Her pride wouldn't let her.

"All I'm learning is that Ezra must be really gifted to learn anything from a lousy teacher like you!"

She said as she stood up and stormed off. She found a rock and sat down an it. She wasn't surprised when Ezra followed her.

"Hey." He said

"Not now Ezra." She said. She wasn't mad at him, but she didn't really want to talk to him.

"Look, I just wanted to say, I know Kanans not the easiest teacher to get along with, but he means well." Ezra said.

"Does he? Do any of them?" She asked. "I know how to fight, I believe I can learn to use that sword. I just don't want what comes with it."

"You mean your family?" Ezra asked

"I'm a disgrace to them Ezra!" She said "A traitor."

"But that's not true." He said

"To them it is." She said "You don't know, no one does." Ezra stood there silently, trying to find the right words to say. He just wanted to help her.

"I don't want to talk about it!" She yelled "How can I lead my people? How can I go back and face them?"

"I'm sorry, Sabine." Ezra said, turning away, "At least you have family to go back to."

The words stung, but she knew he was right. She was being selfish. Ezra had lost everything, but it wasn't his choice. She had lost everything too, but it was her choice to leave. She realized she may have hurt him a little.

"Ezra, I.." she started, turning, but she was to late. He had already walked off. "Kriffing hells." She said as she stood up, kicking the rock and walking away.

Ezra walked back to camp and sat down next to Rau.

"What happened between Sabine and her parents?" Ezra asked. Rau sighed.

"Thats something for her to tell you." Rau said

"I've asked her." Ezra said "I just want to help her."

"I know, but you'll have to be patient with her." Rau said "It hurt her more than anything, and I'm sure it's difficult to talk about."

Hours went by, and as darkness fell, Sabine still hadn't come back.

"I didn't think she'd be gone this long." Ezra said.

"She'll return, then we'll see." Rau said.

"I know she can do it, but it seems like Kanan is asking her to do everything at once." Ezra said. "She just needs more time."

"Time is a luxury, one the galaxy seems to be running out of." Rau said.

As they sat drinking their caf, Ezra looked up to the top of the crater and saw Sabine standing at the top.

"She's back." He said. He started to stand, but Rau grabbed his arm.

"Let her have a moment." He said "This is between her and Kanan."

Sabine sighed as she walked up to Kanan.

"I owe you an apology." Kanan said as she walked up.

"I can say the same." Sabine replied. She was surprised as Kanan stood and handed her the Darksaber.

"Uh, maybe I should practice first." She said.

"Take it, it's yours." Kanan said.

Sabine took it, looking at it nervously.

"Ignite the blade." He said.

Sabine activated the saber, and the black blade with a ghost white hue.

"Woah." Sabine said "It's heavier than I thought it would be."

Kanan nodded. "Energy constantly flows through the crystal. You're not fighting with a blade so much as directing a current of energy. Your thoughts and actions become energy as well. They flow through the crystal and become part of the blade."

Sabine took a step back as Kanan activated his lightsaber.

"The blades will be drawn to each other. Block high!" He said as he swung.

Sabine swung the Darksaber to block, feeling the energy colliding.

"You feel the pull?" Kanan asked. "That sword is old, heavy, but powerful. Respect it's strength."

Kanan called out angles to block from. They moved on to a series of moves from the base positions Ezra had taught her. Sabine struggles a little at first but before long she got the hang of it.

"The blade feels lighter." She said.

"You're connecting with it." Kanan told her "It's becoming part of you. But you cannot rely solely on the blade. You must use all your skills together." He said as Sabine got more confidence and attacked.

He blocked it easily, knocking the saber out of her hands. Sabine used her energy laso to grab the saber and pull it back to her, mimicking the way a Jedi would use the Force, then went on the attack. Kanan blocked another attack, knocking her down. As she fell, one of her vambraces fell on the blade, cutting it.

"You're not fighting me, you're fighting yourself!" Kanan said. "And you're loosing!"

Sabine jumped up and attacked him again. Kanan didn't even block, he just deactivated his lightsaber and dodged her attacks.

"You're not committed to this, you should just quit." Kanan said, egging her on.

"I never quit!" Sabine yelled, swinging wildly.

"That's not what it looks like." Kanan said. "You did run, didn't you?"

"No!" Sabine yelled.

"But that's what your people believe, isn't it?" Kanan said. "You ran from the Empire! You ran from your family!"

"Lies!" Sabine cried.

"So what's the truth!" Kanan yelled, finally activating his lightsaber again and blocking her swing.

"The truth is, I left, to save everyone!" Sabine said, attacking more than ever, driving Kanan back. "My father, my mother, everything I did was for family! She yelled, swinging with every word. Kana was on the defensive now, almost running. Sabine drove him to the top of the crater.

"I built weapons!" Sabine yelled "Then the Empire used them on us, on Mandalore! On friends and family! They controlled us through fear! With weapons I helped create! I helped enslave my own people! I had to stop it, so I spoke out! To save everyone!"

Sabine swung again, sending Kanan flying down into the crater. She jumped, following him down. She stood over him, raising the Darksaber. Ezra reached for his lightsaber, ready to jump in and save Kanan.

"And when I spoke out, my family didn't stand behind me." Sabine said, lowering the lightsaber. "They gave me no choice."

She deactivated her saber and stepped away from Kanan, dropping to her knees. She felt tears begging to form in her eyes as she spoke.

"The Empire wanted to destroy worlds." She said "And they destroyed mine."

"The Empire rules through fear, and not everyone is as strong as you've been." Kanan said, changing his tone. He sat up and put his arm around the crying girl. "Your family is in a prison of their own making. It's up to you to help them out of it."

"But how, Why would they follow me?" Sabine asked.

"I know it's not what you want to here, but for what it's worth, I'd follow you." Rau said.

"And you know I'd follow you no matter what." Ezra said, walking up and taking her hand.

"So what now?"

"Now you go home." Kanan said. "But you won't be going alone. We'll be right by your side all the way."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: For anyone following this- I know these last few chapters haven't been very good, but I'm trying to get the story where I want it to go, so bare with me.**

Ezra woke to a strange, sweet sound coming from across the hall. It was Sabine, but she was doing something he had never heard her do before. She was singing. He stuck his head out into the hallway and listened, just to make sure he was hearing right. Yep, she was singing. He didn't know what she was singing. She wasn't speaking Basic.

Before he could say anything, the singing stopped suddenly. Moments later, the door slid open, and a hand reached out and pulled him into the room.

"Woah what the…" Ezra began, before Sabine kissed him, cutting him off.

"Hey." Sabine said happily as she pulled away.

"Hey." Ezra replied, still a little shocked.

"What were you doing out there?" Sabine asked teasingly "Were you spying on me?"

"What?" Ezra said "No, I just…"

"Just what?" Sabine laughed.

"I just heard you singing." Ezra said "You're really good."

"Oh that?" Sabine said, her face turning a little red "You heard that?"

"Yeah, was I not supposed to?" Ezra asked.

"Well, I guess my noise dampener is broken." She said, looking at a small red box next to door. "You actually thought that was good?"

"Yeah, what was it?" Ezra asked "I didn't understand it though."

"It's just an old Mando tavern song." She said.

"Can you teach me?" Ezra asked.

"What?" Sabine asked, a little surprise "I mean, I guess. But I'd have to teach you Mandoa first."

"Whats Mandoa?" Ezra asked.

"It's my home language ya dork." Sabine laughed. "It's what I was singing in."

"Oh." Ezra said dumbly "I guess I knew that."

She smiled at him. His continued awkwardness was part of what made her love him so much.

"Sit down." She said, pointing at her desk. "If we're going to Mandalore, you may as well know some of the language."

Ezra sat as Sabine dug through her storage box.

"There you are!" She said triumphantly as she pulled out a holo-book.

"Whats that?" Ezra asked.

"Mando dictionary." Sabine said "I don't remember where I got it, but I've had it for years."

She sat down next to Ezra and spent the next several hours teaching him her home language. He was a fast learner, and he had the basics down by the time Kanan told them it was time to go.

"Oww" Ezra groaned, looking around. "What the kriff was that for?"

"I told you they don't like me." Sabine coughed as she stood.

The Wren soldiers had shot them down as soon as Sabine identified herself. Now the Phantom was stuck in a snowbank.

"Alright, let's get moving." Kanan said, opening the door. They stepped out into the snow, ready for a fight.

"Rau, you know what to do." Kanan said. Rau nodded and closed the door, hiding in the ship.

"Here they come." Ezra said, pointing at the Mandalorians flying toward them.

"Remember, I could be related to some of these guys." Sabine said as the Mandalorians landed around them.

"Don't worry." Ezra said, activating his lightsaber "I'll play nice."

"Jedi!" The lead Mandalorian said, firing his blaster.

"Ezra!" Sabine shouted he deflected the shot and sent it flying back into the Mandalorian.

"He shot first Sabine!" Ezra said.

The other Mandalorians began to fire, but the leader stood up and shouted something at them. As they stopped firing, the leader took off his helmet.

"Tristan?" Sabine said, recognizing the leader.

"You changed your hair again." Tristan said as Sabine removed her helmet.

"You know me." Sabine replied, stepping towards him.

"Do I?" He asked "Who are the Jedi?"

"They're my friends." Sabine said "I'll explain everything."

"Alright." Tristan sighed "I'll take you to the compound, but I can't vouch for how you'll be treated." He turned to the other soldiers and signaled them to return home.

"You know this guy?" Ezra asked.

"Yeah." Sabine replied, smiling a little. "He's my baby brother."

"For the millionth time, I'm not a baby anymore!" Tristan called.

"You are to me!" Sabine replied.

As they trudged through the snow, Sabine finally took notice of her brothers armor. It wasn't normal Mandalorian armor, but the Imperial hybrid worn by Gar Saxon, leader of Imperial Mandalore, and his Super Commando followers.

"How can you wear that armor Tristan?" She asked.

Tristan sighed and looked at her. "You shouldn't have come back." He said.

They came out of the forest into a clearing with a large structure in the middle.

"Woah." Ezra said.

"Yeah." Sabine sighed "Welcome home."

As they walked toward the entrance, the guards snapped to attention and the door opened. A woman in gold and black armor walked out and looked at them.

"Put her in a cell." She said, turning away.

"Mother wait!" Sabine said. As the guards reached for her, she pulled out the Darksaber and held it above her head. "We need to talk!" She yelled.

The woman turned back, and her eyes got wide.

"The Darksaber." She said, surprised.

"Ezra, Kanan, this is my mother, Countess Ursa Wren." Sabine said.

She couldn't help but grin a little as Ezra stupidly made an attempt to introduce himself, nearly getting shot in the process. Ursa ignored him and looked at her daughter.

"Sabine, what exactly did you think would happen, that we would just welcome you back with open arms?" She asked "You're wanted by the Empire!"

"I know mother." Sabine replied "But I'm part of the Rebellion now. Just hear what I have to say."

"Fine." Ursa said "But I will only tolerate Jedi in our ancestral home if they hand over their weapons." With that, she turned and walked back inside.

"Well, that went better than expected." Sabine said, turning to Kanan and Ezra.

"That was better?" Ezra asked.

"Well, we could've been shot in sight." Sabine reminded him.

"You don't really expect us to hand over our lightsabers, do you?" Ezra asked.

"Actually, yes." Sabine replied "We need to do whatever we can to make this work. They'll be perfectly safe Ezra."

"Alright." Ezra said, handing his lightsaber to Sabine.

She took Kanan's as well, then handed them over to one of the guards, who led them inside. The room they stopped in was large, and reminded Ezra of a throne room.

"Woah, what are you, royalty?" He asked Sabine.

"It's not exactly like that." She replied. "The Wrens are just one of the major families of Mandalore."

"You mean we were." Ursa said, sitting on the thronelike chair. "We've lost everything Sabine, and it's your fault. You and your friends are going to bring the Empire down on all of us. You think that sword will protect you? The Darksaber is nothing more than a symbol."

"Yeah, but it's a symbol that's united all Mandalorians in the past. If we just stand together…"

"Stand together?" Ursa asked. "Sabine, it's all I can do to keep the other clans from destroying us after what you did."

"I didn't know the Empire would use my weapons on us!" Sabine protested "But you don't believe me, do you? You believe a monster over your own daughter."

Ezra noticed Ursas expression change. She almost looked hurt by Sabines comment.

"Sabine, even if I believed you, I'm not the only one you need to convince." Ursa said "The other houses see you as a traitor. Your brother had to pledge himself to Gar Saxon just to keep some of our standing in the capital."

"Gar Saxon is a murderer!" Sabine cried "He and his men wiped out the Protectors!"

"He's the Emperors Hand and governor of Mandalore." Tristan said. "The Protectors were executed for treason."

"They were loyal to Mandalore!" Sabine yelled.

"That's enough!" Ursa said. "Fen Raus people are dead, mine are not, and I intend to keep it that way. All of them."

"All except me." Sabine said, hanging her head.

A moment of silence went by, then Ursa stood. "Walk with me Sabine." She said.

They walked out onto the balcony overlooking a frozen lake.

"I've always loved it out here." Sabine said, leaning on the railing."

"I know." Ursa replied.

"Mother, why did you side with the Empire?" Sabine asked "After what they did to us, after what they made me do?"

"You think I didn't try to stop it?" Ursa asked "There was nothing I could do Sabine. Mandalore was on its knees. After the Emperor put Saxon in power, we had a choice. Side with him or be destroyed. Your father is a prisoner in all but name in the capital. Insurance to keep us from acting against the Empire."

Sabine stared out across the lake for a moment, taking it all in.

"Why didn't you try to find me?" She asked finally.

"Find you?" Ursa asked "Sabine, I didn't want to find you. When you ran away, it saved you. Coming back is what put you in danger. As much danger as you having the Darksaber. Where did you get it anyway?"

"From Maul." Sabine said.

"You won it from him?" Ursa asked, surprised.

"Not exactly." Sabine said "It's a long story, but he sort of gave it to me."

"Where is he now?" Ursa asked.

"No idea." Sabine replied "Ezra said he ran."

"This Ezra, he's the blue haired one?" Ursa asked "What is he, your boyfriend?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Sabine said.

"Well, you didn't win the Darksaber in combat, so you have no claim." Ursa said.

"Well, I'm holding it." Sabine said "That's a pretty good claim."

"Anyone can hold the Darksaber, Sabine." Ursa said "The trick is keeping it. Do you even know how to use it?"

"You'd be surprised what I can do." Sabine said.

Ursa rolled her eyes. "You're always so immature, so selfish." She said

"Yeah, and what about you?" Sabine snapped angrily. "All you care about is politics and power. You never care about your family."

"Everything I do is for family!" Ursa yelled

"Please, you do it for control!" Sabine said, taking the same tone.

A few tense moments went by as they stared are each other.

"And your father called me stubborn." Ursa said, now calmer. "Now I see it in you."

Sabine was confused. Her mother almost looked proud. "What?" She asked

"A warrior" Ursa said, taking her daughters hand. "Not the one I hoped for, but still."

"Well, I am your daughter." Sabine replied "How can I be anything else?"

She could see a slight grin on the corner of Ursa's mouth. "I guess you're right." Ursa said.

"Look, mother, the Rebels are planning something." Sabine said "We need your help. It would be the first real blow to the Empire. It could show they can be defeated. This could be the key to freeing Mandalore from Imperial control. I need you to trust me."

Before Ursa could reply, Tristan walked onto the balcony. "Mother, you have an urgent message from Sundari." He said.

"Alright, I'm on my way." Ursa said. "I'm going to keep the Darksaber for now though, especially with Jedi here."

Sabine grudgingly handed over the saber, and Ursa left her children alone.

"How's it going?" Tristan asked. "You know mom." Sabine said

"Well, it's nothing a little sparring can't fix." Tristan replied "You on?"

"You mean am I ready to kick your butt again?" She asked "Always baby brother."

Tristan just rolled his eyes and opened the door. "So, Ezra seems like a good guy." He said as they walked.

"What?" Sabine asked, her face turning a little red. "You talked to him?"

"Of course." Tristan said

"Anyone who's going to date my big sister is going to have to go through me first."

"Well, you're a little behind." Sabine laughed "We've been together for almost three years."

"Yeah, he said that." Tristan said "If it makes you feel better, you did well when you taught him Mandoa. He's not bad, only messed up a couple words."

They walked into to the sparring room, where they had spent much of their free time as children before Sabine had been sent to the Academy. Childhood arguments had been settled in this room, and as Tristan swung his bo staff at her, Sabine realized they were about to settle the biggest argument of all.

"You've been practicing, little brother." Sabine said as Tristan knocked her to the ground. "Let me guess, you think I'm a traitor too?"

"No." Tristan replied as Sabine got up. "As a matter of fact, I'm probably the only one who still believes in you. But when you ran, we lost everything! Our respect, our standing in the capital, our honor! If I restore our name, if I can protect our father, I have to try! Saxon promised me!"

"Saxon can't be trusted!" Sabine yelled, taking another swing.

"Mother trusts him." Tristan said. "Enough to trade the Jedi for your safety."

"What?" Sabine said, dropping her staff.

"She contacted Saxon as soon as you identified yourself." Tristan said. "Like you said, she'll do anything to protect her power. You'd better hurry, he's probably here by now."

Sabine ran to the main hall, but she realized she was to late. Saxon and his men were already there, and had Ezra and Kanan at gunpoint.

"You can't do this!" She yelled.

"Oh she can." Saxon said, almost laughing. "Because she is a loyal Mandalorian! Now, you have something else for me?"

Ursa nodded, tossing the Darksaber to him.

"Mother no!" Sabine yelled. She tried to lunge forward, but Tristan came up from behind and held her back.

"This is for the best Sabine." Ursa said "Alright Saxon, I've upheld my end of this bargain. Take the Jedi and go."

"Yes, you upheld the bargain, except you conspired with traitors to do so."

"What?" Ursa said, shocked.

"You're harboring rebels here, Countess. Clan Wren is clearly a threat to the Empire." Saxons men raised their weapons as he spoke. The Wren soldiers responded by drawing their own weapons.

"Governor wait!" Tristan said "We're all Mandalorians, it doesn't have to be like this."

"I've been fair to you Tristan, and you've served me well these last few years." Saxon said "I'll give you a choice. Stand with me, or die with your clan."

Tristan drew his blaster, and pointed it at Sabine.

"Tristan." Sabine said, looking him in the eye.

Tristan turned and pointed the blaster at Saxon. "I chose family." He said

"Then Clan Wren ends here." Saxon said, activating the Darksaber.

Suddenly, the large window shattered and Rau flew in, tossing Ezra and Kanan their lightsabers.

"Took you long enough." Kanan said. With that, the room erupted into chaos.

"Remember." Sabine said as she put her back to Ezra's "Only blast…"

"The ones in white." Ezra finished "I know."

As the fighting continued, Sabine saw Saxon walking toward her mother. Ezra saw it too, and called out to Sabine.

"Catch!" He yelled, throwing his lightsaber.

The green blade hummed to life as she caught it. She managed to get between Saxon and her mother just as he swung what would have been a fatal blow.

"You will be taken back to Mandalore to finish what you started." Saxon said, pulling back.

He used his jet pack to launch himself forward, grabbing her and sending them both flying through the window and onto the frozen lake. Sabine barely managed to get to her feet as Saxon swung again and again. She blocked with her lightsaber, then dodged as Saxon used his jut pack to take off and fire at her. She managed to distract him with the flamethrower on her braces, allowing her to get around behind him and disabled his jet pack, which sent him crashing to the ground.

"I'm impressed girl." Saxon said, getting up. You have some skill, but it's not enough to save you."

"I was just about to say the same to you." Sabine said, charging.

They locked blades, and Sabine could feel the ice cracking beneath her feet, she rolled to the side, and as Saxon swung again, he overextended himself, allowing her to get a hit, cutting his arm and sending him to his knees.

Sabine grabbed the Darksaber as it fell, activating it and holding both blades to Saxons neck.

"Yield!" She said. "I'll never yield to you girl!" Saxon replied. "You'll have to kill me!"

Sabine hesitated for a moment, and from where he was watching, Ezra thought she was going to do it.

"That might be the Mandalorian way." Sabine said finally "But it's not mine."

She deactivated the sabers and walked away toward Ezra and the others. As she did, she saw her mother raise a blaster. Before she could say anything, her mother fired. The round flew past her and hit something behind her. Sabine turned and saw Saxon, pistol drawn and pointed at her, with a hole in his chest and a confused look on his face. Then he collapsed, dead.

The next day, after repairs had been made to the Phantom, Kanan and Ezra were preparing to leave, but Sabine dropped a bombshell before they could.

"What do you mean you're not coming?" Ezra asked.

"Ezra, right now, Mandalore is divided." Sabine replied. "We need all of the clans if we're going to have a chance to save Lothal."

"Sabine." Kanan said "I'm so.."

"Dont say proud." Sabine laughed

"Me?" Kanan said "Never. But I am going to miss you. We all will." He looked at Ezra, then back at Sabine.

"I'll give you two some time." He said, walking into the Phantom.

"I'm staying with you." Ezra said.

Sabine smiled softly at him. "No, you're not." She said. "They need you back at Chopper base. Besides, Maul is still on the loose."

"But Sabine…" He started, but she cut him off by kissing him slowly.

"I'll miss you too." She said


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So I've had most of this chapter written for a while, but I was having problems tying it into the story without a massive time jump, hence the last few chapters. But now Im back on track and this will be more of the AU it should be. Enjoy!**

A few months went by, and Ezra and Sabine each had adventures of their own. It was hard at first, and more than once Sabine regretted her decision to stay with her kin. But, of course, Hera Syndulla has a solution. The Rebels managed to get their hands on an Imperial grade long range comms device. So every day, Hera gave Ezra at least one hour of uninterrupted use to see and talk to Sabine. There were days when one of the other were too busy to talk, but when they could, they held onto every second.

Sabine found herself sitting in her room, staring at her holocomm. It had been almost a week since she had heard from Ezra, the longest they had gone since they had set this up. She got excited as the device started flashing. She pushed it, Ezra appeared in front of her.

"Hey beautiful." He said with a grin. "For a second I didn't think you would be there. I'm sorry I've been gone so long."

"You should be." Sabine said, trying to suppress a grin. "I've been worried sick."

"That's probably accurate, considering what I did." Ezra said.

"Ezra Bridger, I swear if you almost got yourself killed again…" Sabine said.

"Hey, I cant help it." Ezra said, laughing "You're not here to stop me. But you'll be happy to know that Maul is dead, and I found Master Kenobi."

"You did what!" Sabine cried "Ezra, I told you not to go looking for him! And Maul was involved? I want every detail. Now!"

Ezra fell back in his chair, laughing. When he finally managed to sit up, he told her about going to Tatooine, finding Kenobi, and watching Maul fall from a distance.

"So he's dead." Sabine said when Ezra finished "A lot of Mandalorians are going to be very happy. Thank you."

"Hey, I didn't kill him, I just…" Ezra stopped, looking behind him.

"They found us!" A voice yelled in the background. "Ez, what's happening?" Sabine asked, worried. Before he could reply, the transmission cut.

"Ezra?" She said. She jumped up and ran to find her mother. She found her sitting in the war room looking at reports.

"Mom, something is happening to the Rebels." She said "I need to go back."

"What do you mean?" Ursa asked "I don't know." Sabine replied. "I was talking to Ezra and someone yelled they found us. Then the transmission was cut. I think they're under attack."

Ursa sighed and walked around the table, standing in front of her daughter. "As much as I want to, I can't let you leave right now." She said "Your brother is pinned down on the far side of the planet. Saxon troops landed and I need you to take a force and drive them off."

"But mom…" Sabine said. "Sabine, as soon as you come back, we'll send someone to investigate." Ursa said putting her hand on Sabines shoulder. "I promise."

Sabine sighed, then ran to one of the ships waiting outside. As they flew across the snow covered planet, she could see smoke rising in the distance. When they got close enough, she could see her brother, now wearing his grey and gold Wren armor, fighting white armored Saxon troops. Sabine and the other Wren soldiers landed and killed most of the Saxon troops, but a few ran into the woods.

"Took you long enough." Tristan said.

"Come on, we need to hurry and find those guys."

They spent the rest of the day hunting the remaining Saxons. By the time they made it back to the compound, it was nearly dark. She was surprised to see a red and black Mandalorian ship sitting in the landing area. She walked into the main room, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Ezra!" She cried happily, running toward the fimilar figure talking to her mother. She jumped, throwing her arms around him.

"Hey Sabine." Ezra laughed, putting his arms around her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as they pulled apart.

"Thrawn attacked us on Atollon." Ezra said. "I got away and tried to get help, but nobody else would come. So I came here."

"Mother please." Sabine said turning. "We have to help them. We owe them that much."

"I know." Ursa replied "But I can't. We're stretched to the limit as it is Sabine. We just don't have the manpower."

"Then I'm going alone." Sabine replied, turning to Ezra. "Come on Ez, power means more to her then a debt."

As they walked away, Ursa called to them. "Wait." She said "I can't send much, but you can have a few ships and any warriors here that are willing to go."

Sabine sighed with relief. "Thank you, Mother." She said.

"You should hurry." Ursa said "Against Thrawn, the Rebels don't have long." They gathered a dozen Wren soldiers and took off for Atollon.

After the battle of Atollon

"So Thrawn is dead." Kanan said. "What now?"

"Well, my father is still a prisoner on Mandalore." Sabine said.

"Then that's where we're off to next." Ezra said.

A few weeks later

After the successful mission to rescue Sabines father and destroy the empires secret weapon on Mandalore, the crew of the Ghost returned to Sabines home planet.

"I just have to get a few things, then we can get off this rock" Sabine said.

"Well, you may as well take your time, because we're staying overnight" Kanan told her.

"What?" Sabine cried "Why?"

"Because we need fuel and supplies" Kanan said

"And you need to spend more time with your father."

"Fine" Sabine said as she sulked off.

She ate dinner with her family, then ran off to do what she really wanted to do, spend time with Ezra. After Atollon, they had rushed to Mandalore to free her father. They had talked of course, but there wasn't a chance to really enjoy it.

As she walked to the Ghost, she looked up at the night sky. She had always loved nighttime on her home planet. Green, red, and gold bands of light would dance across the sky. It was one of the many things that had inspired her art as a child.

She entered the Ghost, and quickly made her way to Ezra's room. Before she could knock, the door opened to reveal Ezra. He grabbed her and kissed her slowly.

"Hey" she laughed as they broke for air.

"Hey" Ezra replied.

He brushed Sabines pink hair out of her face, then leaned in and kissed her again. After a minute of just standing there locked together, Sabine pulled back.

"Come on, I want to show you something" she said. She took his hand and led him to the hatch that led to the top of the Ghost.

"Woah" Ezra said as they climbed outside.

The lights were in full swing, and the colored bands danced across the sky. Sabine wrapped her arms around him, and lay her head on his chest. Ezra put his arms around her, and they stood together for a while, enjoying this moment of peace in the middle of a brutal war.

"Oh I almost forgot" Ezra said.

He unwrapped his arms from around her and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a loosely wrapped package. He unwrapped it and revealed a large purple and pink crystal.

"Oh Ezra" Sabine said as she took it "Its beautiful."

"Happy birthday Sabine" Ezra said.

"What?" She asked "How did you…"

"Tristan told me" Ezra laughed.

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Of course he did" she said "but I'm glad."

Sabine put the crystal in her pocket, put her arms around his neck, then jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. Ezra almost fell, but he caught himself and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

"Don't let me go." Sabine laughed as he stumbled. He put his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes.

"I'd never let you go." he said.

They kissed, and stayed locked together. Sabine lost track of time. All she could think about was Ezra. His lips, his breathing, the way he held her. Everything else was a void. She never would have pictured herself here 4 years ago. The kid they picked up off the streets of Lothal, who she hadn't even considered interesting, had suddenly become her world, and she loved it.

"I love you Ezra Bridger." She said finally.


	11. Chapter 11

The morning after the last Imperials surrendered on Lothal, Ezra found himself leaning on the railing of the old comm tower, watching the sun rise over Capital City. He heard a noise behind him and turned. Unsurprisingly, it was Sabine opening the lift.

"I figured I'd find you up here." She said as she walked up.

"I just wanted to be alone for a minute." Ezra replied.

"Yeah, I know." Sabine said, leaning against him. "That's why I'm up here."

Ezra laughed and put an arm around her. They stood there in silence for a few minutes, just watching the sunrise.

"So what now?" Sabine asked finally.

"Well, I guess we keep fighting." Ezra replied.

"I'm tired of fighting though." Sabine said. "I just want some peace."

"Really?" Ezra asked, a little surprised. "The big bad Mando warrior wants to settle down? I'm calling your mother."

"Watch it buddy." Sabine said, elbowing him in the stomach. "I could still kick your butt in a heartbeat. But that's not really what I mean."

"Well, what do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"I don't know." Sabine said. "Hera and Kanan are about to get married, and I just thought that, after the war, this place wouldn't be such a bad place to live."

Ezra's eyes got wide as she mentioned marriage.

"Woah, slow down Sabine." He said "Are you saying you want to…"

"Well, one day, ya dork." Sabine laughed nervously. "Right now we're both way to busy, and it's about to get a lot worse. Once the Empire finds out about these victories, they'll come back with a vengeance. We can't get distracted right now. Honestly I don't think Hera and Kanan should be doing it, but they're practically married anyway, this is just a formality."

Ezra silently let out a breath he had been holding. Thankfully, Sabine didn't catch it, and if she did, she didn't let on. As he looked out at the sunrise, he thought about what she had said. Marriage. Of course he loved her, and sure, he'd thought about it a few times. But the thought of marriage scared him a little, and he didn't know why.

Sabine was having the exact same thoughts. She knew her parents, or at least her mother, probably wouldn't approve of her marrying a Jedi. But she also knew what she wanted. That night she had kissed him on top of the Ghost on Krownest had more than confirmed it. She wanted a life and family with Ezra. Maybe not right that moment, but after the war, she just wanted to live somewhere out in the country on Lothal with Ezra, and maybe one day some kids.

She pushed the thought from her mind though. Ezra was right, there was still fighting to be done, and even though they weren't married, they had each other, and that was enough for now.

'If we could just win this stupid war.' She thought.

 **Weeks later**

"Zeb, watch the left!" Sabine called as two TIE fighters flew past the nose gun.

"I see them!" Zeb growled, firing the top gun.

There was a flash of blue light, and an Imperial light cruiser came out of hyperspace.

"Right on time." Hera said "Brightsword, you're up."

A few moments later, a heavily modified Rebel Hammerhead class corvette came out of hyperspace behind the light cruiser. The Brightsword was the newest ship to be added to Phoenix Squad, and had one purpose: capture Imperial ships. The new ship was equipped with grappling lines and an ion weapon that shut down enemy engines. The ion cannon fired, shutting down the cruisers engines and causing it to drift. The grappling hooks fired next, sinking into the cruisers armored hull.

"Positive lock, General!" The Brightsword commander said on the comm. "Reeling her in now."

"Are your assault teams ready?" Hera asked.

"Affirmative General." The commander replied. "Patching the video feed to you now."

Sabine climbed up into the cockpit to watch the boarding teams. On the screen, she could see the video feed from a Rebel trooper's helmet cam. They breached the cruiser airlock and were met with Imperial blaster fire. There was a short firefight, and the Rebels drove the Imperials back.

"Airlock secured General." The lead trooper called. "Moving to capture the…"

The trooper was cut off by a scream somewhere off camera.

"What was that?" Hera asked.

"Contact!" Another trooper yelled, firing his blaster.

Through the screams and blaster fire, Sabine heard a familiar noise.

"Is that what I think it is?" She asked.

"A lightsaber." Kanan replied, confirming her fear.

The trooper with the camera rounded a corner and came face to face with the new enemy, or rather, three of them. They looked like a stormtrooper, with a smooth, angular helmets and dark red armor. Each one was carrying two red lightsabers. The Rebel trooper raised his blaster, but one of the new enemies swung its lightsaber high. The camera toppled to the side and rolled a little, showing the red armored feet of the enemy and the decapitated body of the Rebel trooper. Sabine put her hand over her mouth and shut off the video.

"What were those things?" She asked.

"Best guess, some new version of the Inquisitors." Kanan said. "Ezra and I will take care of this."

"I'm coming with you." Sabine said, following him.

"No, you're not." Kanan said. "I don't know what these things are capable of, or how many there are."

"I can take care of myself." Sabine protested.

"I know that." Kanan replied, putting his hand on her shoulder. "But if you get hurt, Ezra may slip up, and that will get us all killed, especially if there are more than three. Just trust me Sabine."

Sabine sighed and turned around, sitting in the copilots seat. "Fine, I'll stay." She said.

Kanan ran to the rear of the ship and found Ezra sitting in the Phantom, waiting for another target.

"What's going on out there?" He asked.

"I don't know, possibly Inquisitors." Kanan replied. "We're going over to the cruiser."

Ezra didn't hesitate, releasing the docking clamps and steering the Phantom toward the Brightsword. They docked with the corvette and headed toward the airlock where the cruiser was attached. They could hear screams and blaster fire, as well as lightsabers.

Ezra ran around the corner and activated his lightsaber. He saw one of the new troopers with its back toward him, attacking Rebel troops. He took the advantage and lunged, sinking his lightsaber hilt deep into the troopers back. It lurched forward and fell to the ground, dead. Another trooper came through the airlock door and swung at him. Ezra flipped backwards and landed next to Kanan, who also activated his lightsaber. Two more troopers stepped through the airlock, red lightsabers hissing to life.

"What are these things?" Ezra asked.

"I don't know, something dark." Kanan replied.

Two of the troopers charged, while the third hung back, looking for an opening. Ezra blocked as a trooper swung at him. Whatever they were, the troopers were well trained. He blocked three more swings, then used the Force to push the trooper off balance. Ezra charged, swinging his lightsaber in an arc across the troopers chest. The trooper stood for a moment, then fell to the ground. The trooper that had been hanging back jumped over its fallen comrade, swinging it's lightsabers downward. Ezra Force pushed it into the ceiling, then let it fall to the ground. As it fell, the trooper spun, kicking Ezra across the face.

He flew back, losing his grip on his lightsaber. As he stood to his feet, he saw his lightsaber lying on the ground near the trooper. He tried to pull it toward him, but the trooper swung it's lightsaber, cutting Ezra's in half.

"Karabast." Ezra muttered.

He heard a strange, yet familiar sound somewhere close by. He looked around and saw one of the dead troopers lightsabers sitting next to him. He grabbed it and activated it, shuddering as the red blade appeared. He blocked another swing from the trooper, and as they locked blades, he saw Kanan approaching from behind the trooper.

The trooper grunted as six inches of blue lightsaber stuck through its chest, burning the red armor. It fell to the ground as Kanan pulled his lightsaber out of its back.

"I think...that's the last of them." Kanan said, breathing hard.

Ezra gave a sigh of relief, then looked around. He found the two halves of his lightsaber and groaned.

"My crystal is busted, what am I gonna do now?" He asked.

"We'll figure that out when we get back, for now use the one you have." Kanan replied. "Come on, we need to clear the cruiser."

They rounded up another squad of Rebel troops and cleared the Imperial cruiser, room by room, corridor by corridor. They found a few stormtroopers, but no more sabertroopers, as the Rebel troops had started to call them. Once the ship was clear, they moved to the bridge and started going through data files.

"Why did we want to capture this ship again?" Ezra asked.

"It's supposed to be carrying a special cargo meant for the Emperor." Kanan replied. "Looks like whatever it is is in cargo hold 2."

They made their way to the cargo hold, activating their lightsabers as they stepped inside. The room had already been cleared, but regular soldiers still could've missed something.

"That looks like our target." Kanan said, pointing to a group of crates locked behind a ray shield. "Check the rest of the room while I get this shield down."

Ezra nodded and swept the room. Finding nothing, he returned to Kanan, who had managed to deactivate the shield.

"Alright, here goes nothing." Kanan said, pushing a button to open one of the crates.

The lid popped open, and a rack of small blue cubes rose out of the crate.

"Holocrons." Kanan said excitedly. "Jedi Holocrons. I think that's what all these crates are."

Ezra opened another crate, revealing more Holocrons. He opened a third crate and looked inside. Instead of finding Holocrons, he found a suit of sabertrooper armor, except this one was different. This armor was blue and silver, and looked like a cross between Jedi robes and the clone armor Rex wore.

"Hey, what's this?" He asked.

"That's Jedi battle armor." Kanan replied. "The Order developed it centuries ago, but that set is an updated version from late in the Clone Wars."

"I'm keeping this." Ezra said happily.

"We're keeping all of it." Kanan said. "It's Jedi relics, it's Jedi business. The Alliance has no say in it, I don't care what they think."

Ezra couldn't agree more. They closed up the crates, then called Hera to come pick them up. While they were waiting, Ezra changed into the armor he had found. He was excited to find that the armor had a built in cloak and hood.

"Where did you find that?" Sabine asked as she led a squad of Rebel troops in to help load the cargo onto the Ghost.

"In one of the crates." Ezra said. "I thought it looked good."

"Anything is better than the same orange jumpsuit." Sabine said, rolling her eyes.

They loaded the cargo onto the Ghost, then left the new Rebel crew to take over the cruiser. Later that day, Ezra was desperately trying to figure out what to do about his lightsaber. He had kept the red saber, but that was the problem. It was red. But he could still hear that strange noise that had made him see the saber in the first place. Out of ideas, he went to Kanan.

"Hey Kanan, are you still up?" Ezra asked, knocking on Kanans door.

"Yeah kid, come on in." Kanan said.

Ezra opened the door, seeing Kanan sitting on the floor, legs crossed.

"What's up?" Kanan asked.

Ezra pulled the lightsaber off his belt and tossed it to him. Kanan caught it, holding it in front of him.

"What's wrong with it?" He asked.

"Turn it on." Ezra said. "Oh." Kanan said quietly as the blade appeared. Even though he was blind, Kanan knew the blade was red.

"Yeah." Ezra said "I don't know what to do. My other crystal is busted, I can't use it again. And this one...It's like its calling to me."

"Maybe it is." Kanan said. "I had something similar happen to me when I was an apprentice. My saber was cut in half in a training accident. I didn't know what I was going to do, then I heard another crystal calling to me from the archive vault. I told Master Yoda, and he took me into the vault. I found the crystal I currently have in an old lightsaber from hundreds of years ago. I will admit though, this one is going to be different."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Ezra said.

Kanan scratched his beard, thinking for a moment. "Wait, you remember Ahsoka's lightsabers?" He asked

"The white ones?" Ezra replied. "Yeah, what about them?"

"Did she ever tell you how she got them?" Kanan asked.

"I don't think so." Ezra said "Why what's so special about them?"

"Well, I guess we never really went over it during your training, but white isn't a common lightsaber color." Kanan said. "In fact, it's not a color at all. Neither is red."

"How do you explain that then?" Ezra asked, pointing at the red lightsaber.

"Sit, and I'll show you." Kanan said.

Ezra sat as Kanan pulled out his own lightsaber. He levitated the two sabers above his hands, and used the Force to deconstruct them.

"Lightsaber crystals are nothing more than a Force attuned rock." He explained. "It's our connection to the Force that truly give a saber its color. Sith lightsabers are different. The crystal is the same, but the user poured all his hate, rage, and anger into the crystal, causing what we call bleeding. That's what causes the red."

"So what's so special about white?" Ezra asked, looking at the red crystal.

"Well, Ahsoka told me about an old Jedi method for healing a bleeding crystal." Kanan said. "It's what she did when her crystals called to her."

"So Ahsoka's crystals were red, and she fixed them?" Ezra asked.

"Yes." Kanan replied, handing him a data chip . "And you're going to do the same thing to yours. This is Ahsoka teaching me how to heal a crystal. Watch is and you'll have your new one."

Ezra took the chip and returned to his room. He watched the recording, following step by step as Ahsoka explained how to undo an unspeakable act. When he was finally finished, hours later, he looked at the crystal in front of him. Instead of a dark red, it now glowed a soft white. Ezra smiled, picking up the crystal. He spent the rest of the day sifting through the boxes they had captured. Two of them contained more lightsaber parts than he'd ever seen.

That night, Sabine found him on the floor of the cargo hold, still trying to find the right parts.

"Any luck?" She asked, sitting down next to him.

"I'm almost done, just have to find the right hilt." Ezra said.

"What about this?" Sabine asked, holding up a black hilt with silver engravings on hit.

"Wow, I didn't see that one." Ezra said, taking it. "I think this is it." He put the hilt in his bag, then stood. "Come on, I'll show you how I do it this time."

"What color will it be this time?" Sabine asked as they walked into his room. "I liked the green."

"You'll see." Ezra laughed.

He sat down at his desk and took the pieces out if his bag, laying them out across the desk. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Using the Force, he picked up the pieces, moving them into place. A few minutes went by as he lined everything up just the way he wanted it, then connected all the pieces. The completed lightsaber floated into his hand.

"You ready?" He asked.

Sabine nodded, and Ezra activated his new lightsaber. The silver blade sprung to life, and Sabine let out a small gasp.

"It's beautiful." She said, a little awe in her voice.

"You think so?" Ezra asked, smiling.

"Yep." Sabine replied, kissing him on the cheek. "Come on, let's go show the others."

The rest of the crew was, of course, impressed by the new lightsaber.

"Well, it's good you got that made when you did." Hera said. "We just got a new mission from command. Those new sabertroopers are being trained on a station above the planet Glee Anselm. Our orders are to destroy it."

"Then lets get going." Kanan said. "Glee Anselm is on the far side of the galaxy from here, so it's going to be a long flight."

Hera set the hyperdrive, and the crew settled in, preparing for the battle ahead.


	12. Chapter 12

"Ez, we're here, wake up." Sabine said, gently shaking Ezra's shoulder.

"Five more minutes." Ezra groaned, rolling over.

"Fine, I'm eating your breakfast then." Sabine said. She laughed as Ezra shot up, looking around. Food was always the one thing guaranteed to wake both Ezra and Zeb.

"Breakfast is going to have to wait." Kanan said as he walked by. "Come on, we should go over the plan with your soldiers again before we do this."

Sabine helped Ezra up off the floor where he had been sleeping, and they followed Kanan over to the holotable. The crew had left the Brightsword and the captured Imperial cruiser almost two days ago, traveling almost halfway across the galaxy to the Glee Anselm system. They had stopped by Mandalore on the way, picking up an Imperial cargo ship and a squad of Clan Wren soldiers. The soldiers were trained in advanced forms of melee combat, specifically against lightsabers.

"Ok boys, gather round." Sabine called to the soldiers. The eight black and gold armored Mandalorians formed a small half circle around her.

"Alright, lets go over this one more time." Kanan said, activating the holotable, showing a map of their target. "This will be pretty straight forward. Get in, steal what we can, blow the place, and get out."

"The best way to bring it down will be the reactor room." Sabine said, highlighting part of the map. "We'll land in the hanger, then split up into two teams. Ezra, Jax, and I will head toward the reactor. The rest of you will head to the data center, where you will cover Chopper while he steals anything he can get. Once that's done, we'll regroup in the hanger."

"If it looks like Jedi artifacts or anything important, grab it." Ezra said "And remember, we don't really know how many of these saber troopers there are, or what they're capable of. Any questions?"

The Mandalorians were silent, ready to do some fighting. Chopper rolled into the room, beeping urgently. Kanan followed him to the cockpit, leaving Sabine, Ezra, and the Mandalorians alone.

"You ready?" Ezra asked, sitting next to Sabine on a crate of supplies. "Of course." Sabine said, strapping her new "toys" onto her arms. They were two and a half foot long blades made of beskar steel, the same steel as the armor each Mandalorian wore. With the ability to block and deflect lightsaber attacks, they had been designed by the Mandalorians during the Mandalore Wars.

"Am I ever not ready to blow something up?"

"Point taken." Ezra said, laughing.

Sabine smiled and kissed him on the cheek, then put her head on his shoulder. Ezra took her hand and put his head against hers. He could've stayed like that forever, but Kanan walked back into the room.

"Ten seconds from touchdown." He said. "They have no idea what's coming for them."

The ship rocked a little as the landing gear hit the surface of the hanger. Sabine hit the button to open the ramp as she put on her helmet.

"Here we go." She said as the ramp slowly opened.

Ezra ignited his lightsaber and charged down the ramp, Sabine following close behind.

"Rebels!" A stormtrooper yelled, firing at Ezra, who deflected the bolt, sending it back into the stormtrooper's chest. Alarms started blaring as they fought farther into the hanger.

"Sabertroopers!" One of the Mandalorians yelled as seven of the specialized troopers ran in.

"We'll hold them here!" Kanan yelled to Sabine. "You three get to the reactor room."

"On it!" Sabine yelled. "Come on Jax!"

"Aww come on, they're right there!" Jax said. A fifteen year old Wren soldier, Jax was the youngest of the group. He was also Sabines cousin, and the two looked and acted a lot alike.

"Let's go hotshot!" Sabine said. "I don't want to have to tell your mother you died being stupid."

A little reluctantly, Jax followed Sabine and Ezra through the hanger doors that led to the reactor. They managed to make it halfway to the reactor before running into any resistance. Rounding a corner the three came face to face with four sabertroopers.

Sabine and Jax activated their beskar blades, one on each arm. It had been a while since Sabine had fought with the blades, but Jax had given her a refresher course on the way. Sabine blocked the first troopers swing with her left blade, then stabbed forward with the right, scoring a hit to the gut. She pulled the blade out and spun, slashing both blades across the troopers chest, cutting through the armor and into the troopers rib cage. Blood began pouring out and the trooper gagged and coughed, falling to the ground. Sabine jumped over the body and moved to help Jax, who was struggling against his opponent.

Ezra, on the other hand, was performing gracefully against two opponents. His new white lightsaber slashed and spun through the air, a stark contrast to the four red sabers fighting against him. Sabine blocked a strike that would've killed Jax, allowing him to jab his blade through the troopers helmet, killing it instantly.

"Sabine, catch !" Ezra yelled from behind her. She turned and saw the back of a sabertrooper flying towards her. She stuck both blades out in front of her, and impaled the trooper through the spine. It shudder a few times, then died. Sabine looked down at her armor as the trooper slid off the blades.

"Aww, I got blood on my armor." She groaned.

"I think it looks good." Ezra laughed. "It gives it character."

Sabine shook her head and looked down. "This better come off." She said, kicking the sabertrooper.

They continued toward the reactor room, meeting little resistance. As they burst into the reactor room, Ezra and Jax began cutting down stormtroopers, while Sabine started pulling explosives out of her pack.

"Specter Five to Specter One, what's your status?" Sabine said into her comm.

"A little slow, but we're in the control room." Kanan replied. "They've got us pinned down right now, but we're almost to the main terminal."

"Copy that." Sabine replied. "Okay boys, lets get these charges set and lets get out of here."

She began tossing the explosives to Ezra and Jax, who placed them around the reactor core. After about five minutes, the reactor was covered with enough explosives to level a building.

"Alright Specter One, we're all set." Sabine said.

"Copy, search your immediate area for artifacts and weapons." Kanan replied. "Chopper is pulling all the data he can now. We'll meet you at the hanger."

Sabine, Ezra, and Jax began to search room by room as they made their way to the hanger. Most of the rooms were empty, but a few had stormtroopers, which they cut down with ease.

"Looks like that's it." Ezra said as they walked into the hanger.

"Sabine, we've got a problem!" Kanan yelled over the comm.

Before Sabine could reply, there was a loud boom, and a Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace, extremely close to the station.

"Run!" Ezra yelled as the destroyer launched a turbo laser volley at the hanger.

For Sabine, the next few moments went by in a blur. The first two rounds bounced off the hanger shields, and the third was absorbed by it. But the shield wasn't meant to take that kind of firepower, so on the fourth round it failed, overloading the generator. As the shields failed, the hanger decompressed, sending everyone and everything flying toward the open entrance. Sabine flew past the shuttle as a fifth round hit the shuttle engines, causing the whole ship to erupt in a white orange ball of fire. She barely had enough time to turn before the heat and fire seared across her. Even with her armor, she could tell her skin was burned, at least a bad first degree. That was the last thing she remembered before being knocked unconscious by smacking into the hangers emergency door.

Ezra, who managed to avoid the fireball, saw Sabine hit the emergency door. As she fell to the ground, he knew she was unconscious. Without the vacuum pulling them across the room, Ezra and Jax skidded to a stop a few feet from Sabine. Ezra got up first, running to Sabine and pulling off her helmet.

"Sabine come on, wake up." Ezra said, holding her face in his hands. Smelling burning metal and skin, he rolled her over and saw the charred back of her armor, and knew her skin was probably burned. He started panicking, not knowing how bad exactly her injuries were. Then, from out of nowhere, a wave of calm came over him.

"We have to get out of here!" Jax said "They're tearing this station apart!"

Ezra nodded, and put Sabines helmet back on her head. Being careful not to put pressure on her burns, he picked her up and carried her over his shoulder.

"Let's go." He said calmly.

Jax nodded and turned, leading the way toward the controls room.

"Ezra, are you guys okay?" Kanan asked on the comm. "Sabines not answering."

"Yeah, she's busy at the moment." Ezra said, readjusting Sabines position on his shoulder. He made a mental note to make a joke about her weight when they got back to the Ghost. "The shuttle is toast, did you signal for plan B?"

"Already done, she'll meet us at airlock seven in thirty seconds." Kanan replied.

"We're almost there." Ezra said. They rounded two more corners, and found the rest of the group.

"What happened to her?" Kanan asked when he saw Sabine.

"She hit a wall." Ezra replied. Kanan's comlink began beeping, and there was a hissing sound from the other side of the airlock.

"Alright, our ride is here, let's move." Kanan said, opening the door. They rushed inside, and Kanan sealed the door. "Hera get us out of here!" He yelled.

Ezra carried Sabine to the med bay as the ship jolted, jumping into hyperspace.

 **The next day**

Sabine cried in pain as the water from the shower hit her back. The blast had hurt her more than she had thought. She turned off the water and looked at her back in the mirror, cringing as she saw the red, blistered skin.

'Could be worse.' She thought, reaching for the burn cream she had found in her room.

She put a little on her hand, then attempted to reach around and put it on the burns. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, she gave up. Carefully putting on a loose shirt, she went to find the one person who would be more than willing to help her.

"Ezra!" She called, walking through the ship. 'Where could he be?' She thought, not finding him in his room or in the kitchen.

She heard a crash coming from the cargo hold, followed by laughter. Opening the door, she found the Wren soldiers standing along the walls of the room, laughing and placing bets on two of their members fighting. She looked around and saw Ezra sitting on a box, acting just like the Mandalorians.

"Hey." She said, walking up to him.

"Hey." Ezra replied. "You wanna go a round?"

"Even if I wasn't hurt, I wouldn't want to embarrass you." Sabine said, punching his arm.

"Sure, I think you're just scared." Ezra replied.

"Alright then smart guy." Sabine said, walking back toward the door. "I was going to see if you wanted to help me put this burn cream on my back, but I guess I'll see if Chopper will do it."

That got his attention. She laughed as he jumped up and followed her out of the cargo hold.

"What exactly am I doing?" Ezra asked as they walked into the common room of the ship.

"You're going to make yourself a useful boyfriend for once and put the stuff on my back." Sabine said, tossing him the can of burn cream. "I can't reach parts of my back, it hurts to much."

"What are you talking about, I'm always useful." Ezra said.

"Yeah, okay." Sabine laughed as she lay face down on the couch. Ezra rolled his eyes and stood beside the couch, carefully pulling her shirt up about half way and revealing the red, blistered skin.

"Ouch." He said. "I don't know how you're not crying right now."

"Maybe it's because I'm just tougher than you." She said.

"Watch it Wren." Ezra said, laughing a little "All I have to do is put my hand on your back and it's over."

"Just hurry up." Sabine said. Even though she was doing her best not to show it, the pain from the burns was almost unbearable.

Ezra put some of the cream on his hands, and as he looked down at her slim form, just for a moment, he hesitated. In the five years he had known her, and the roughly four they had been dating, he had never actually touched any part of Sabine other than her face and hands. She always wore her armor, and if not, then the black jumpsuit that went under it.

'Calm down Ezra.' He thought. 'It's not like you're about to have sex or something.'

Which, of course, he had thought about a million times since the day he'd met her. He'd never brought it up to her though, and it wasn't because he was a coward. There were strict rules on Lothal about having sex before marriage, and harsh punishments to go with those rules. Children on Lothal were taught to obey those rules at a young age.

He shook his head, then, taking a deep breath, he carefully applied the burn cream to her back. Sabine whimpered as the cold medicine touched her burns.

"I'm sorry." Ezra said, pulling away. "No, it's fine." Sabine said through her teeth, "Keep going."

Slowly and gently, Ezra worked his way up her back, doing is best not to cause her any more pain. As he worked up to her shoulders, he noticed something different on her back. Pushing her shirt up more, he realized it was a tattoo that spanned her shoulder blades.

"Whats this?" He asked. It was some kind of large bird with its wings stretched out, holding a sword in its claws. Above it were words written in Mando'a. He could read parts of it, but the full translation was lost to him.

"That's my tattoo." Sabine said. "I got that just after I joined the crew."

"Huh." Ezra said. "I didn't know you had a tattoo. What's it say?"

"I taught you to speak Mando'a!" Sabine said. "Did it all go in one ear and out the other?"

"No." Ezra said. "Well, a little."

Sabine put her hand on her forehead "You're hopeless." She groaned. "Verd ori'shya beskar'gam, A warrior is more than her armor."

"Oh." Ezra said. "Do you have any more?"

Sabine couldn't help but smile at his curiosity. "As a matter of fact, yes, I do." She said. "There's one on my left leg. It's my star bird symbol I always mark everything with."

Ezra was about to reply, but Sabine cut him off.

"No, you can't see it, not right now. It's really high up my leg, and I don't feel like giving Chopper over there anything to blackmail me with."

Ezra turned around in time to see Chopper turning around and quickly rolling out the door.

"Come here you bucket of bolts!" Ezra said, running after the droid.

Sabine laughed and pushed herself up off the couch. She made her way to her room, where she wrapped herself in fresh bandages.

She was walking down the hall when she heard a gasp come from Hera, who had just received some terrifying news.


	13. Chapter 13

"What?" Hera cried from the cockpit. "What do you mean destroyed?"

Sabine stepped into the cockpit as Hera spoke to a hologram of General Draven, head of Rebel Intelligence.

"That's what his message said." Draven replied. "You're already on that side of the Galaxy, General Syndulla. Can you check it out?"

"Of course sir." Hera replied. "You'll have confirmation as soon as possible."

Draven nodded, than the hologram faded.

"What happened?" Sabine asked.

"A Rebel Intelligence officer claims the Empire has tested a new superweapon on the planet Jedha." Hera replied, typing coordinates into the nav computer. "The officer had to leave in a hurry, so command wants an analysis on the weapons power and the status of Jedha."

They shot into hyperspace, and Hera let out a sigh. "This war just keeps getting worse." She said.

"Well, Ezra always tells me it will be over soon, so that's what keeps me going." Sabine said.

Hera smiled at the young Mandalorian. "I'm glad you two have each other." She said "I think this war would be a lot harder on both of you if you didn't."

"I think so too." Sabine replied.

Hera looked at the computer, then back at Sabine. "You'd better go get the others." She said. "We're almost there."

They filled the others in on the situation, then everyone settled into their position. Sabine flipped her comm channel over to 6, the special line she had installed between her position in the nose gun and Ezra's spot in the tail.

"So what do you think it is?" She asked.

"I don't know exactly, but I'll bet five credits it has to do with that giant kyber crystal we found with Saw a few months back." Ezra replied.

"Wasn't Jedha where his new base was?" Sabine asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Ezra said "I hope he got out in time."

"Alright, look alive people." Hera called "Were almost there."

Sabine switched her comms back to the main channel. The hyperspace alarm went off, and Sabine gasped. The sight in front of her was terrifying. A giant plume of flame, smoke, dirt, and debris was rising out into space over Jedah. The surface of the planet was cracked and scorched, and a crater covered a large portion of the planet.

"This isn't possible." Zeb said.

"I think the definition of possible was destroyed with this planet buddy." Ezra replied.

"So it's true." Kanan said. "The Empire has a super weapon. One the Rebellion won't be able to match."

 **Later**

"What's taking so long?" Sabine asked, kicking over a box of supplies. "She's been in there for hours."

"It's only been one hour." Zeb replied

"Aahh!" Sabine cried, grabbing her hair.

She had so many questions, and nobody could answer them. After reconing Jedha and dropping Jax and the Mandalorians off at Krownest, the crew had returned to Yavin to find an Imperial cargo ship parked smack in the middle of the main airfield. Hera had immediately been called to a conference of Rebel leadership, and had been gone ever since.

"Heads up, here comes mom." Ezra said, jumping off the box he had been sitting on.

Hera walked up, looking more shaken than she had when they had first seen Jedah.

"What happened?" Sabine asked

"Well the Empire does have a new weapon, but the council is split over what to do." Hera said "Its called the Death Star, and its supposed to have the power to completely destroy planets. What we saw at Jedah was only a test."

"What does the Council think?" Ezra asked.

"Most want to scatter again, like we were before." Hera said. "A few want to disband and surrender entirely. Some want to fight on. There's a possibility that the plans for the weapon will reveal a flaw, and we could destroy it."

"So what are we going to do?" Zeb asked

"Well for now, nothing" Hera replied "Everyone has been ordered to stand down."

"Of course we have." Ezra said angrily.

Sabine sighed, knowing he disliked Mon Mothmas over precautions stance when it came to attacking the Empire. "Hey, it'll be fine." She said, putting her arm around him.

"Sabines right Ezra." Hera said "I said we've been ordered to stand down, but those of us who still want to fight are going to keep our ships loaded and ready to go at a moments notice."

They set to work, restocking food and water, cleaning the nose cannon, and doing hasty repairs on the Ghost. A while later, they watched as the Imperial shuttle took off.

"Hey, isn't that thing supposed to be off limits?" Sabine asked. Ezra shrugged and they continued working.

A few hours later, Chopper rolled up to the Ghost, waving his arms and beeping loudly.

"What?" Hera asked "Are you sure Chop?" He kept beeping and waving his arms. "Ok ok, I'll contact the Admiral right now." She said as she ran inside the Ghost.

Sabine and Ezra looked at each other, then followed her inside.

"Hey, something is happening." Ezra said as they passed Zeb.

He stood up and followed them to the cockpit, where Hera was speaking to the Admiral in charge of the Rebel fleet.

"Yes Admiral, we're geared up and ready to go." She said.

"Good, join the fleet in orbit and we will jump en mass to Scarif." The admiral told her.

The transmission cut, and Hera turned around to look at them.

"Well?" Zeb asked

"We're going to Scarif." Hera replied "This is probably going to be the biggest battle we've been in, so get ready"

The crew jumped into action, stowing the last of the supplies and securing all the loose gear.

"Someone go wake up Kanan!" Hera yelled from the cockpit.

Chopper gave an evil sounding laugh and rolled towards Kanans room. Moments later, they heard a yell as Chopper sped out of the room, laughing.

"What's happening?" Kanan asked as he stepped out of his room.

"We're on a mission, dear" Hera replied.

As Sabine ran to her station, Ezra nearly ran into her as he made his way to the tail gun.

"Shoot straight." Ezra said

"You too" She replied, then ran to the nose gun.

As they shot through the atmosphere, Sabine could begin to make out the shapes of the largest ships in the fleet.

"Wow" she said as they got closer.

This was the first time she had seen the entire fleet assembled. A dozen frigates and corvette size ships supported a large MC75 cruiser. There were also dozens fighters and bombers lined up in their combat wings. The Ghost and six A-Wings of Phoenix squad took their position in the line, directly underneath the largest ship.

"Here we go." Hera called over the ship comm.

Space turned from black to blue, and the Ghost shot into hyperspace. Scarif was over an hour away, but before Sabine knew it, the hyperspace alarm was going off.

"Hang on!" Hera called as they exited hyperspace.

Sabine realized how important Scarif must have been to the Empire. The entire planet was covered by a shield, and the only way in or out was a large circular shield gate. It took the Imperial ships a moment to react, giving the Rebels time to deploy their ships. Half a dozen fighters were inside the shield before the Imperials could get it closed.

"Phoenix squad, on me, we have to defend the command ship." Hera called to the A wings following them.

"Incoming!" Sabine called as the Empire released their TIE fighters.

She squeezed the triggers and let loose with the nose canons, destroying 4 TIE's before the rest swarmed around them. Hera took the Ghost left, then right, then left again. Space lit up around them as ships began exchanging fire. The Ghost zipped in and out of the larger ships, chasing TIEs away from the main ship and the bombers as they lined up to attack the large shield gate. The bombers attacked, but it did no good.

"How are we gonna bring that down?" Ezra asked

"I don't think that's our problem kid." Zeb said as he blasted another fighter.

As the fight continued, the Rebels began to gain the upper hand, but they still couldn't get the shield gate open. Then, a group of bombers with ion torpedoes disabled a star destroyer. Sabine watched as a Hammerhead corvette rammed into the side of the disabled ship, pushing it into a second star destroyer. The central section of the second star destroyer was completely sheared away, and the two destroyed ships began falling toward the shield gate. As the dagger shaped ships collided with the shield, it rippled, then overloaded and popped like a bubble.

"Alright!" Sabine cheered. "Let's get down there."

Hera angled the Ghost toward the surface, then suddenly, she turned the ship around.

"What are you doing?" Sabine asked.

"Admiral just gave us orders to retreat." Hera replied.

"What? Why" Sabine asked.

"What the kriff is that?" Ezra yelled from the tailgun.

"What is it?" Sabine asked. There was a bright flash, and a ball of fire began rising from the surface of the planet.

"What was that?" She asked.

"It's the Death Star." Ezra replied. "Hera get us out of here!"

The Ghost shot into hyperspace behind three fighters and a corvette. They exited hyperspace not long after at a rally point the fleet had determined before they had left Yavin. There were only a few ships there, mostly X wing fighters. They joined the group and waited for the rest of the fleet. A few X wings joined them, then a group of bombers, then a few blockade runners.

"What happened?" Hera asked one of the new ships. "Where is the rest of the fleet?"

"They cornered us, General" the pilot said. "A star destroyer came out of nowhere. They started picking off our ships. Most of us had to jump in different directions. I think more fighters and bombers survived, but we lost most of the larger ships."

"The admiral's ship?" Hera asked.

"Disabled, probably destroyed. I think a corvette detached though." The pilot said.

"That's good." Hera said. "Alright everybody form up. We're headed home."

The small, ragtag fleet jumped into hyperspace, and eventually made their way back to Yavin. Over the next few hours, stragglers made their way back home, but there weren't many.

"This isn't good." Sabine said as they walked to the command center to find Hera

"No, it's not." Ezra replied.

They found Hera talking with two other generals. "You can count on us." she was saying.

"Where to now?" Ezra asked as she turned around.

"Tatooine." She replied. "Princess Organa is missing. Her ship came under attack, and they sent a distress call with coordinates."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Ezra asked.

The Ghost refueled and took off for Tatooine. On the way, Sabine found Ezra sitting by himself, lost in his thoughts.

"You ok?" She asked as she sat next to him.

"Yeah" He said, smiling at her. "It's just that, Tatooine… It's where Maul died. I know he's dead, I saw him fall. But I can't help but think he survived somehow."

"We haven't seen Maul in years." Sabine said "If he was alive, I'm sure he would have tracked us down again."

"True." Ezra said.

"Hey kids, we're here." Hera said on the ship loudspeaker. "Better come to the cockpit."

The two made their way to the cockpit, where the rest of the crew was studying the scanners.

"Did you find the ship?" Sabine asked.

"Yep, and you're gonna love where it is." Hera said.

"Oh great, where?" Sabine asked.

"In that star destroyer." Hera said, pointing toward the planet. Sabine looked and saw two star destroyers in orbit over the desert world.

"Oh boy." Ezra said. "This should be fun. I'll take the Phantom over and get them out. Chop, you're coming with me."

The droid protested, and Ezra kicked him.

"I'm coming too." Sabine said. "You'll need someone to watch your back in there."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Ezra laughed.

"How are you going to get in without dying?" Hera asked.

"Same way we did when we rescued Kanan years ago." Ezra replied. "We'll dock on the side and cut a hole. We'll be back in an hour."

With that, they turned and headed to the Phantom before Hera could protest. They detached from the Ghost, and Sabine fired the thrusters briefly, angling toward the destroyer.

"Alright, now we just have to drift across here and hope they don't see us." She said. "How exactly do you plan on stopping this thing anyway? Last time we knocked out their scanners, but we can't this time."

"I'll have to use the Force I guess." Ezra said.

As they got closer to the destroyer, Ezra stretched his hand out and began to slow the Phantom. As they touched the hull of the destroyer, Sabine activated the magnetic clamp, locking the Phantom to the side of the larger ship.

"Alright, let's go." She said.

She opened the bottom hatch of the Phantom, and Ezra quickly cut a hole through the ships armor. They crawled through the hole, then helped Chopper out of the Phantom, and Ezra replaced the piece of wall so nobody would notice it unless they were looking.

"Detention level is this way." Sabine said.

As they snuck through the ship, they had to stop several times to avoid patrols. Eventually, they managed to find the detention level control center. They quickly dealt with the guards inside while Chopper plugged into the computer.

After a few moments he began beeping and waved them over to the computer, activating a screen.

"Ok, looks like we've got a dozen rebels in cell A1-22, all slated for execution in 2 hours." Sabine said "Looks like they're all male though. See if you can find her while we bust them out Chop."

The two made their way to the cell where the rebels were being held. Ezra watched for stormtroopers while Sabine hard wired the door. It opened to reveal 6 troopers, 2 pilots, and 4 engineers.

"Who are you?" One of the pilots asked.

"Phoenix squadron" Ezra said "Where's the Princess?"

"Vader took her." The pilot said. "Somewhere called the Death Star."

As Ezra and Sabine looked at each other, an alarm suddenly went off.

"We're out of time." Sabine said to the rebels "Let's go." They made their way back to the Phantom, and detached from the star destroyer.

"Look" Ezra said pointing. A freighter was fleeing past the blockade.

"That piece of junk is never gonna make it." Sabine said.

As they watched, the ship jumped into hyperspace, narrowly avoiding a volley of turbo lasers from another star destroyer.

"That's weird" Ezra said "Before it jumped, I felt something in the Force."

"Maul?" Sabine asked

"No, it wasn't dark." Ezra replied "I don't know, it almost felt familiar."

Chopper beeped and pushed against Ezra's leg.

"Yeah, maybe your right." Ezra replied to the droid.

"What's up?" Sabine asked. "When Chop and I came to Tatooine before, it was to find Master Kenobi." Ezra said.

"Maybe he was fleeing the Empire, that's what it looked like." Sabine said.

They returned to the Ghost, and contacted Rebel command. They were ordered to return to Yavin and wait for further instructions.

On the way back, Kanan and Hera decided to spend some 'quality time' together in their room. Ezra, Zeb and a few of the rescued troops played cards, and Sabine took a shower. It was the first one she had taken in days. She scrubbed the grease and grime off of her body, changed into a fresh jumpsuit, then headed back to join the rest of the crew. She sat down next to Ezra, content to be near him. He took her hand as she lay her head on his shoulder.

A few minutes later, Chopper rolled in to report a message from Rebel command. Sabine sighed and stood up, knowing Hera was occupied.

"I'll be back." She said.

She kissed Ezra quickly then headed to the cockpit. As sat down, an image of Agent Kallus appeared.

"Wren" He said "Where's the General."

"She occupied at the moment" Sabine replied, "What's up?"

"Well, some of the higher ups believe the Empire is closing in on our position." Kallus said. "Some of the cells have been ordered to separate, and Phoenix is one of them. RV back at Yavin and head to a safe point and wait for the all clear, Fulcrum out."

As the hologram cut off, Sabine sat back in her chair and sighed.

"Everything ok?" Ezra asked as he stepped into the cockpit.

"We've been ordered to retreat with Phoenix group." She told him. "We're on the run. Again."

Ezra put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, we'll be alright." He told her. "We've done it before."

Sabine stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She said as she put her head against his chest.

"I'm always right" He laughed.

"Don't push it" She said.

The hyperspace alarm sounded, and Yavin appeared in front of them.

"Of course, something always has to get in our way." Sabine sighed as she pulled away from Ezra. "I should probably go tell Hera we're back."

Sabine walked down the hallway and knocked on Kanan and Heras door. She sort of felt bad, it was the only time they had really spent together in the last few days.

"Hera." She said as she knocked. "We're back at Yavin. Command gave us new orders, I'll fill you in when you get in here."

She turned around and went back to the cockpit. She sat down in the pilots seat and flew the Ghost toward the surface.

As they landed, Hera walked in. Sabine filled her in on the new developments, and the Ghost crew prepared to head out once again. They refueled and rearmed the Ghost, then took off to meet the rest of Phoenix group. The small group of ships consisted of the Ghost, a frigate, five fighters, and three bombers.

"That's a lot less ships than we had" Ezra said. "Well, we lost a lot yesterday" Hera reminded him.

The little group formed up and followed the Ghost into hyperspace.


	14. Chapter 14

Sabine woke to the smell of something frying. Whatever it was, it smelled really good. She rolled out of bed, got dressed, and followed the smell down the hall to the kitchen. There, she found Hera happily singing to herself as she made breakfast.

"What's got you all excited this morning?" Sabine asked as she sat down at the table.

"That'll have to wait" Hera said with a grin "I want to tell the whole crew at once."

"Well I hope they get here soon, I'm starving, and now I'm curious." Ezra said as he walked in. He leaned down and kissed Sabine on the way to his seat.

"Good morning to you too" she laughed.

"What's with the kissing and making breakfast?" Zeb asked, still half asleep. Chopper was hot on his heels, beeping and wurring in his droid language.

"Chop, we talked about this" Hera said "No foul language at the table."

Chopper groaned and sulked off to his spot near the wall. Hera reached down and plugged a charging cable into the droid. He made a sound like a cat purring, and was quiet.

"Where's Kanan?" Ezra asked

"I don't know" Hera said "He was awake when I came in here."

"Well can we eat without him?" Zeb asked

"No, today is a special day, and we're all going to eat together." Hera replied.

"Kanan, get in here, Heras starving us!" Sabine yelled.

A few moments later, Kanan walked through the door. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it" He said.

Sabine noticed he looked almost as happy as Hera.

"Shut up and sit down so she'll feed us" Zeb said.

Kanan took his seat, and Hera passed out the food. Nerf bacon, pancakes, and eggs, all made to perfection. Sabine loved these moments. It actually felt like they were a normal family having breakfast, instead of wanted criminals who hadn't slept ten hours in the last week.

After leaving Yavin, Phoenix squad had been ordered to draw the Empire away from the Outer Rim. They had been wreaking havoc up and down major hyperspace lanes in the inner and mid rims ever since, using hit and run tactics to disrupt Imperial supplies and keep their focus away from the Rebel forces as they relocated from Yavin.

They had received news of the Death Stars destruction a day after they had left, as well as word that there was a young man called Luke Skywalker claiming to be a Jedi. Their orders were to stay where they were for another week, to allow the Rebels to relocate, but Sabine knew Ezra was excited to meet the new Jedi.

"So can we hear the big news now?" Ezra asked.

Everyone turned and looked at Hera, who smiled and looked down. Sabine couldn't help but notice the Twi'lek's cheeks turning a slightly different color of green.

"I uh, I'm pregnant." She said.

The room erupted into chaos. Zeb choked on his food, and Ezra spit out his drink. Chopper began beeping loudly.

Sabine let out a squeal of delight. "Hera, that's amazing!" She said

"Yeah congratulations." Ezra said smiling.

"You already knew, didn't you?" Zeb said to Kanan.

"She found out last week, but she wanted to be sure before we told you guys" Kanan replied.

"Congratulations mate" Zeb laughed.

 **Later**

"Ezra. Ezra wake up."

Ezra sat up at the sound of his name, looking around his dark, empty room.

"Who's there?" He asked, reaching for his lightsaber.

He jumped a little as the figure of an old man wearing Jedi robes appeared before him. The man looked familiar, and it took Ezra a second to recognize him.

"Master Kenobi?" Ezra asked, a little more than confused.

"Yes Ezra." Kenobi replied. "It is good to see you again."

"How… how are you here?" Ezra asked.

"I have become part of the Cosmic Force." Kenobi said "I was killed by Vader, but through training I acquired over the years, I have the ability to speak to you."

"So you're like a ghost?" Ezra asked

"In a way." Kenobi replied. "I have come with a message. Do not train Luke. He has his own path, just as you have yours."

"Don't train him?" Ezra asked, confused. "I thought it was our responsibility to train new generations of Jedi?"

"It is." Kenobi replied "But for now you have other responsibilities."

"What responsibilities?" Ezra asked.

"Becoming a proper Jedi Knight." Kenobi replied. "Go to the planet Dagobah. You must find Yoda, and speak with him. You must also go alone, do not even bring your master, he cannot help you."

"I understand." Ezra replied, standing. "Thank you, Master Kenobi."

"May the Force be with you, young Bridger." Kenobi replied. "And if you should ever need help, I will not be far away."

With that, the old Jedi faded away. Ezra blinked a few times, just to make sure he was awake and hadn't dreamed the whole thing. He jumped as he heard a knock on his door.

"Ezra, you okay in there?" Kanan asked.

"Yeah." Ezra replied "Come in here I need to talk to you."

The door opened and Kanan walked through. "I heard voices." Kanan said. "Who were you talking too?"

He sat as Ezra explained his meeting with Master Kenobi, and about his instructions to go to Dagobah to meet with Yoda.

"So, it's that time then." Kanan sighed.

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"It's time for you to move on." Kanan replied. "You've grown so much over these last few years, and I've taught you everything I know. But there's a time in every Jedi Master's life when he has to let go of his student, and let them grow on their own. This is that time."

"Thank you, Kanan." Ezra said. "For everything. I don't think I say that enough."

"Just doing my job." Kanan said, smiling. "I never got to take my formal trials, but my master was getting me ready for them. One of the last things she told me was this; There cannot be light without the dark. You'll understand that when its time too. Now get your things, you need to leave as soon as possible."

An hour later, Ezra was standing at the base of the ladder to the Phantom, surrounded by the rest of the crew.

"Are you sure we can't come with you?" Hera asked.

"No, this is something he has to do alone." Kanan said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine Hera." Ezra laughed. "I always come back in one piece."

"Make sure you do kid." Zeb replied. "Otherwise I'm taking your stuff."

"Good luck with that." Ezra replied. "I'm leaving it under Sabine's protection."

"Well that's a big mistake." Sabine said "It might be scrapped for parts before you get back."

"It better not be." Ezra said.

He turned around and began climbing the ladder, then looked back and motioned Sabine to follow him. She climbed the ladder and stood with him while he did all of the pre flight checks for the Phantom. When he was done, he turned around and smiled at her.

"Well, I guess I should get going." He said.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Sabine asked.

"I don't know." Ezra replied.

"I asked Kanan the same thing, and he just said 'As long as it takes.'"

There was a pause as they looked at each other, then Sabine stepped forward and kissed him.

"Good luck Jedi." She said, smiling.

She knew if she didn't leave right then she never would, so she turned and began climbing down the ladder.

"You'd better come back to me in one piece Ezra Bridger." She said as she closed the hatch.

"Like I said, I always do." Ezra replied.

When the hatch sealed, he detached from the Ghost and headed for Dagobah. He had a little time, so he sat in the floor of the ship and meditated. He thought back in everything that had happened over the years, trying to recall every single word of training Kanan had ever spoken to him. Before he knew it, the little ship exited hyperspace.

"Now, how am I gonna find Master Yoda?" He said to himself.

He thought for a moment, then chose the obvious answer. He closed his eyes and concentrated, letting the Force choose where to go. Suddenly, a small, muddy clearing came into view. He opened his eyes and pushed forward on the controls, following the Force as he flew toward the planet. He flew through the swampy fog, and eventually, the clearing came into view. He landed and shut the ship down, making sure he had fuel to get back home.

"This is a strange place." He said as he stepped out if the ship.

"Strange?" A voice said to his left, making him jump. "Hmm, yes, strange it is."

Ezra looked around for the source of the voice. He had only heard it a few times before, but he recognized it immediately.

"Master Yoda?" He said, still searching through the fog.

He finally saw the small green figure sitting on a rock a few feet away. Excited, Ezra approached and sat in front of the old Jedi.

"Young Ezra." Yoda said "Good to see you in person, it is."

"Master, I've come for your help." Ezra said.

"Help?" Yoda asked, amused "What help?"

"Master Kenobi sent me." Ezra replied "He said it was time for me to become a Jedi Knight."

"Did he?" Yoda asked, looking over his shoulder. "Join us, my old friend." He said.

The blue figure of Kenobi appeared out of the fog beside Yoda.

"The boy is ready Master." Kenobi said. "He has already passed most of the trials."

"Hmm, perhaps." Yoda said. "Ask him, we shall."

Both old Jedi turned to look at Ezra, who was still sitting on the ground.

"So, wish to become a Jedi Knight, do you?" Yoda asked. "Pass the Trials, you must."

"What trials?" Ezra asked.

"In the days of the Republic, the Trials were five tests used to measure a padawan's abilities, and to determine if they were ready to become Knights." Kenobi said. "For you, however, it will be different."

"How so?" Ezra asked.

"Passed some of these, already you have." Yoda said. "Courage, Skill, Insight, Flesh. All these, passed you have. Only one remains."

"What is it?" Ezra asked.

"The Trial of Self." Kenobi answered. He motioned to the entrance of a cave a few meters away. "Enter the cave, and you will face every Jedi's greatest enemy, yourself."

Ezra stood and slowly walked toward the cave. He could feel the Dark Side flowing from the cave.

"What's in there?" He asked.

"Only you will know." Yoda replied. "If successful you are, a Jedi, you will have become."

"And if I fail?" Ezra asked.

"Most padawan's that failed this trial either died or slipped into madness." Kenobi said. "To be a Jedi Knight and protect others, you must learn to control yourself."

"So I have to beat my dark side, then?" Ezra asked.

"You will see soon enough." Kenobi said.

"I understand." Ezra said. He took a deep breath, then stepped toward the cave.

"Ezra wait." Kenobi called. "Leave your lightsaber. You must face yourself alone."

Ezra nodded and unhooked his lightsaber from his belt. He sat it on a rock, then stepped into the cave. He didn't know how long he had been walking when he heard the laughter.

"Who's there?" He called.

Instinctively, he reached for his lightsaber, and was surprised to find it attached to his belt. He thought he had left it, but was glad it was with him. He activated it, and the white glow filled the space around him.

"Well well well." A strangely familiar voice said "Look who came crawling back home."

Ezra turned and came face to face with himself, but it wasn't him. More like a shadow, with bright red eyes and a red lightsaber in hand.

"Who are you?" Ezra asked, taking a step back.

"Well it's obvious isn't it?" The Shadow said. "I'm you. But I'm the better you."

"You mean you're the dark me." Ezra said.

The Shadow hissed, then put away its lightsaber. "Well, yes." It said "I'm what you could have been."

The Shadow motioned toward the wall of the cave, and a series of images appeared, almost like a movie. There he was, sitting on a throne on a mountain of wealth on his home planet. Not running, not hiding, not fighting. And the best part was, Sabine was right by his side.

"What...How did this happen?" Ezra asked.

The image changed to him holding the Sith holocron they had found on Malachor.

"For starters, you weren't so weak when it came to the holocron." The Shadow said. "Your master had abandoned you, and you knew it. So you embraced your anger, your hate, and your passion. You used it to strike down the one that failed you, and then you set off to make things right."

The image changed again, showing him standing over a pile of stormtrooper bodies and running his lightsaber through Darth Vader's heart.

"You took revenge for Ahsoka, and killed Vader." The Shadow said. "Then you took his place at the Emperor's side. Not to become the apprentice, of course, but to become the master, as you should be."

The image changed again, this time showing him standing over the Emperor's body, red lightsaber in hand and a black cloak around his shoulders.

"After killing the Emperor, you reformed the Empire, and brought the crime lords and corrupt politicians to heel." The shadow said. "For the first time in history, the Galaxy was at peace, a true peace."

The image of him and Sabine sitting together appeared again, and he smiled. It looked so calm. No fighting, no running, just each other and the Galaxy.

"It's not too late to have this, you know." The shadow said. "All you have to do is accept me, and kill the old fool outside. After that, taking the Galaxy will be simple."

Ezra smiled and reached toward the image. Sabine was smiling, and she looked truly happy. It had been a while since he had seen her like that, not worried about anything. Sure she smiled and joked, but they were constantly looking over their shoulders for the Empire. Here, she just looked peaceful. Ezra sighed and turned toward the Shadow, leveling his lightsaber with its chest.

"No." He said. "It isn't right. I don't want this."

"Then you'll die here, alone in this cave." The Shadow laughed.

Ezra blocked as the Shadow charged, then swung his lightsaber across the Its chest.

"So you can face what could have been." The Shadow laughed, holding its chest. "That's unfortunate. Let's see how you do against the rest of yourself."

It turned and ran off into the darkness. Ezra followed, and the cave around him changed into the hallway of some kind of space station. He rounded a corner and saw a young girl, probably about 10, with long, jet black hair standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Who are you?" Ezra asked, deactivating his lightsaber.

The girl turned, and Ezra saw his own bright blue eyes staring back at him.

"I'm your fear." The girl said. "Everything you fear to lose."

"But I've already beat you." Ezra said "In the Lothal temple, years ago."

"You beat me then." The girl said. "But I've changed."

She pointed toward a door, and Ezra could hear voices coming from the other side.

"We're loosing her!" A voice yelled.

"Sabine?" Another voice, his voice, said as the distinctive wine of a heart monitor signaled death.

"Sabine no!" His voice yelled.

The voice let out an animal like howl and Ezra was flung backwards by the shockwave of a Force blast. The door he had been standing in front of slammed into him, and he was thrown into darkness again. As he hit the ground, he heard an evil sounding laughter again. Ezra activated his lightsaber as the Shadow appeared in front of him again.

"You can save her, you know." The Shadow said. "Just come with me. We'll kill Yoda and you can make it so nothing can ever hurt Sabine again."

"No!" Ezra yelled, swinging his lightsaber and cutting the Shadows arm off. It simply laughed and ran off again.

Ezra followed, and found it standing in a large room. Against the wall was a large white triangle with a circle in the middle.

"What is this?" Ezra asked.

"Regret." The Shadow laughed. "Trust me, I know you have a lot, but this one stands out."

The circle in the triangle started showing an image, and Ezra immediately knew what and where it was.

"Ahsoka!" He cried, seeing the female Togruta fighting Vader.

It was a different angle, and was after the temple closed. As he watched, Vader lifted his lightsaber above his head, preparing to make a killing blow.

Out of instinct, Ezra reached out with the Force and pulled Ahsoka toward him, out of danger. The next thing he knew, something large and solid hit him, sending him to the ground.

He sat up and shook his head, looking for the source of the impact. With a start, he saw Ahsoka lying on the ground inches away from him.

"Ahsoka?" He said, touching her arm, not believing she was real.

Ahsoka opened her eyes and sat up. "What...what's happening?" She asked. "Who are…Ezra?"

"This keeps getting stranger and stranger." Ezra said.

"Am I dead?" Ahsoka asked.

"No." Ezra replied. "I think you're alive. You don't seem like a vision."

"What vision?" Ahsoka asked. "What's going on?"

"I'm on Dagobah, finishing my Trials to become a Knight." Ezra said.

"So how did I get here?" Ahsoka asked. "The last thing I remember was fighting Vader."

"Well, I pulled you out of that..wait, where did it go?" Ezra said, looking around.

The triangle was gone, and so was the Shadow.

"It was just here." He said, standing up."

"Well, it looks like the way out is this way." Ahsoka said.

Ezra looked to where she was pointing, but all he saw was darkness.

"What are you talking about, there's nothing there." He said.

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked. "It's right...wait a minute."

"What?" Ezra asked.

"You remember the Lothal temple? How we could all see doors none of the rest could see?" Ahsoka asked. "If this is your Trial, then in order for you to complete it, maybe I'm supposed to leave."

"Maybe you're right." Ezra said.

Ahsoka nodded and walked toward the wall. Suddenly, she vanished.

"Kriff I thought she'd never leave." The Shadow said, stepping out of the dark.

There was something different about it though. The Shadow was clearly angry.

"I'm done playing games!" It yelled, activating its red lightsaber.

Ezra barely got his lightsaber up in time, and the Shadow drove him back. Ezra blocked left, then right, then left again. He swung high low, and side to side. He went on the defensive, then switched to offense, doing his best to kill the Shadow. He fought as hard as he could, but could never gain the upper hand.

'What am I doing wrong?" Ezra thought, blocking another swing. 'I can't win this.'

Suddenly, he heard Kanans voice in his head. "There cannot be light without the dark. You'll understand when it's time to."

Ezra deactivated his lightsaber and sank to his knees. The Shadow stopped mid swing, clearly confused.

"What are you doing, you coward?" It asked "Get up and fight!"

"I can't beat you." Ezra replied. "But I figured it out. That's the point of this trial. I'm not supposed to beat you. It's not about destroying you, it's about accepting you."

"Wha...Lies!" The Shadow yelled.

It charged again, but this time Ezra picked it up with the Force and brought it inches away from his face.

"You're mine now." He said.

The Shadow screamed one last time, then exploded, knocking Ezra to the ground. He sat up and looked around, squinting as a light appeared behind him. As he stood, he realized it was the entrance of the cave. He walked out of the cave and back into the clearing, where he found Ahsoka, Yoda, and Kenobi waiting for him.

"Ezra Bridger." Yoda said. "Approach." Ezra stepped forward slowly, looking between the three older Jedi.

"Kneel." Yoda said, activating Ezras white lightsaber. Ezra did so, listening to the humming of the lightsaber as Yoda brought it close to his shoulders.

"By the right of the Council, by the will of the Force, Ezra Bridger, rise you may." Yoda said. "Knight of the Jedi Order."

"Thank you Master." Ezra said, standing.

"You have done well." Kenobi said. "Your master should be proud. You must return to him now, he will need you in the days ahead."

"Need this, you will." Yoda said, giving Ezra back his lightsaber.

Ezra nodded, then turned toward the Phantom, where Ahsoka was waiting for him.

"Mind if I tag along?" She asked.

"Of course not." Ezra replied, smiling. They took off through the fog and into space.

"So how long was I gone?" Ahsoka asked.

"About three years." Ezra replied as he set the hyperdrive computer.

"What!" Ahsoka cried. "How much have I missed?"

"Well, before I left for Dagobah, Hera announced she was pregnant." Ezra laughed.

"Oh wow." Ahsoka said. "You're gonna have to fill me in on...well everything I guess."

Ezra smiled and activated the hyperdrive, then did his best to explain everything that had happened, from Maul to Thrawn to the Death Star.

 **A/N: Thanks to everyone who reads this and thanks for the reviews!**


	15. Chapter 15

For as long as they had been together, the Ghost crew had never been afraid of a fight. Even when all the odds were against them, they still fought tooth and nail to the end, and somehow made it out the other side. But all the fighting and risky, dangerous, near impossible missions came crashing to a halt the day Jacen was born. After that, fighting was limited to a last resort, and the risky missions were given to other Rebel units. They were being more and more cautious every day.

And it was driving Sabine insane.

She wasn't mad at anyone, not directly anyway. Hera was being over-cautious, but it was her first child, so Sabine sort of understood. She didn't blame Jacen, how could she? The six month old was the bright spot in all their lives, and Sabine loved him like he was her own. But all that love didn't keep her from wishing she could go out and fight the Empire.

She sighed as she finished yet another drawing, pinning it to her wall. She reached into the drawer of her desk for another piece of paper, and her hand brushed against a stack of old notebooks. Bored, she pulled them out and began flipping through the pages. She smiled, recognizing the pictures almost instantly. When she was younger, she had drawn everything the crew did, whether it be stealing food or blowing up Imperial stuff.

"What's that?" Ezra asked, making her jump. She hadn't heard him come in, and found him leaning against the door.

"Just some old sketchbooks from a few years ago." Sabine replied. "Look here's the first day you joined the crew."

Ezra smiled at the cartoonish drawing of him getting chased by Chopper and Zeb. "Wow." He said "How old are these?"

"About six years." Sabine replied, flipping through the pages, "Look there's our TIE fighter."

"Those were some fun times." Ezra laughed.

"Yeah." Sabine sighed "To bad we're stuck here while the rest of the rebels are off blowing things up and stealing stuff."

Ezra laughed, and a silent moment passed between them.

"Come on." Ezra said finally grabbing her hand.

"What?" Sabine asked "Where are we going?"

"I dunno." Ezra laughed "To do something exciting."

"Hera's never gonna let us leave." Sabine said. She was intrigued by the idea of doing something reckless again, but worried Hera might not see it the same way.

"Hera and Kanan are sleeping." Ezra said. "Let's go before Jacen wakes them up."

Sabine smiled and followed him to the ladder that led to the Phantom. There they found Zeb, leaning against the ladder.

"And where are you two headed at this hour?" Zeb asked.

"We don't know yet." Sabine said. "Somewhere dangerous I hope."

"Let me guess, you want me to cover for you?" Zeb asked.

"Please?" Sabine replied.

Zeb sighed and shook his head. "Fine, but you two owe me, and if Hera kills me I'll haunt you both."

"Understood." Ezra said "Thanks big guy."

Zeb shook his head and left the room as Sabine and Ezra climbed the ladder to the Phantom.

"So, where do you want to go?" Ezra asked as they flew away from the Ghost.

"Well, I got a tip from Intelligence that the Empire has a secret research base located in this sector." Sabine replied. "They're testing some kind of new weapon at a black site, and Intel thinks they need to be stopped."

"What kind of weapon?" Ezra asked. The last 'new weapon' the Empire had used had been the Death Star, and he didn't want to see one of those again.

"Some kind of superheavy cannon for a new model of ship." Sabine replied "It's supposed to be for orbital bombardment and cracking planetary shields."

"Wow." Ezra said "Wouldn't it be a shame if their research was delayed?"

Sabine laughed and punched in the coordinates, sending the little ship into hyperspace. They had a few hours, and Sabine decided to catch up on sleep. Ezra took her place in the pilots chair, monitoring the hyperdrive computer and a dozen other monitors. He turned around and looked at Sabine, watching her sleep. Nightmares still came and went for both of them, but at that moment Sabine seemed at peace.

As he watched her, Ezra couldn't help but think about all the things they had been through together. All the places they had been, the things they had done. All the war and death and destruction they had seen together. He thought of the conversation they had had on top of the tower on Lothal, just after they had liberated the planet.

The older Jacen got, the more Ezra thought about a family of his own. He wanted what Kanan and Hera had for Sabine and himself. For some reason, however, he was scared. Not just about starting a family, but about talking to Sabine about it. No matter how much they said they loved each other, Ezra had this fear that if he asked, she would, for whatever reason, say no. He knew she had said she wanted to, but still, he had his fears. All the things he had seen in the cave had changed him, and he was afraid, most of all, to lose Sabine.

He shook his head and turned back to the controls as the Phantom exited hyperspace. The little ship and its two wayward passengers now found themselves in the middle of nowhere.

"I thought you said there was an Imperial research base here." Ezra said as Sabine woke up.

"There is." Sabine replied, walking over and starting a low frequency scan. "Wait just a second...Bingo!" The image of a small planet appeared on the screen.

"That has to be it." Sabine said. "It's the only rocky planet in the system, and there's a huge power reading coming from the surface."

Sabine took over the controls and steered toward a dark planet on the edge of the system. As they flew toward the planet, Ezra noticed something odd.

"What's that thing in orbit?" He asked, pointing at a large collection beams, girders, and clamps.

"Looks like a dry dock." Sabine replied. "Probably for the ship that's supposed to carry this thing. The research station is on the planet below it, so we'll have to go around the far side of the planet to avoid scanners."

Sabine activated the scrambling device that made the Phantom virtually invisible as they shot toward the surface. Staying below scanner level, they eventually found the surprisingly large research station. Sabine parked the Phantom in a crater and put on her helmet.

"Ready for some fun?" She asked.

Ezra nodded and opened the door, and the two made their way across the muddy, crater covered field toward the base. Suddenly they heard an alarm.

"Kriff, how did they find us already?" Ezra asked as they ducked into a crater.

"I don't think that's for us." Sabine replied. "Look."

She pointed to a nearby hill, where a bright green energy shield covered what looked like bunkers. The sky began to turn bright red, and Sabine's eyes widened as she realized what was happening.

"Get down!" She yelled, pulling Ezra down into the crater.

There was an ear splitting roar followed by a massive explosion. The ground shook and they could feel the heat wash over their backs. They crawled back to the top of the crater and looked around. The shield was gone, as were the bunkers and three quarters of the hill.

"Guess that's the new weapon." Ezra said. "Come on, let's get to the base."

Surprisingly, the base had no walls and few perimeter guards.

"So what are we gonna do?" Ezra asked. "Obviously the weapon is somewhere in orbit."

"Yeah, but look." Sabine said, pointing across the compound.

Ezra looked to where she was pointing and saw a massive cannon on a turret base. "You think that's it?" He asked.

"Looks like it." Sabine replied. "Come on, I want a closer look."

The pair carefully made their way toward the large cannon, and Sabine marveled at the design.

"Look at the size of this thing." She whispered "The conductor coils must be bigger than the Ghost."

Suddenly, Ezra grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to the ground.

"Hey what the…" She began, but stopped when she heard voices.

"The scientists want a ground to orbit test fire done by seventeen hundred." A voice said. "Get this thing ready to fire."

"Yes sir." Two voices replied at the same time.

"Ground to orbit huh?" Sabine whispered. "That could work for us."

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked.

"Well, they'd have to be able to aim the cannon somehow." Sabine replied. "And that other cannon is either on a ship or something, because a cannon this large has to have its own power supply. What if we could re aim this cannon to target the other one?"

"I like where this is going." Ezra said.

They moved to the cannon and found a massive bundle of cables, all headed for the same building.

"That's gotta be the control building." Sabine said. They made their way into the building and found a large room with a massive reactor sitting in the middle.

"Well, we found the power supply." Ezra said.

Sabine was silent, studying the reactor. The design looked oddly familiar. Suddenly she knew why.

"Ok, I brought one of my bombs with us, but for it to work we have to overload the reactor."

"Why?" Ezra asked.

"It's shielded." Sabine replied. "I, uh, I may have helped design this model of reactor when I was at the Academy. It's designed not to melt down in the event of backsurge. The shields will drop, but the crew can still repair the reactor."

"Seriously?" Ezra asked.

"It was a group project!" Sabine replied defensively.

"Ok ok." Ezra laughed. "Let's find the control room."

The two followed an important looking officer around for a few minutes, and he eventually led them to the weapon control room.

"Is everything ready?" The officer asked.

"Yes sir." Another man replied. "The targeting sequence is complete and the cannon is warming up now. Just waiting on the word."

Sabine looked at Ezra and nodded, and they slipped quietly into the room. There were only four people in the room, the officer, two technicians, and a security trooper. Ezra grabbed the troopers blaster and hit him in the face with it before he could react, knocking the man out cold. Sabine drew her blasters and pointed them at the officer and technicians.

"Don't move, don't yell, don't do anything." Sabine said. "Where's the cannon in orbit?"

"Kriff off, rebel scum." The officer replied.

Sabine looked at Ezra and nodded. Ezra switched the blaster in his hand to stun and shot the officer in the chest, sending him to the ground.

"It's in low orbit, fire sector JM77." One of the technicians said quickly.

"Thank you." Sabine replied. She pushed past them and sat in the control chair as Ezra stunned the technicians.

"Ok, let's see what we have here." She said.

It didn't take long to figure out the controls, and within seconds she found the second cannon. It was attached to a large boxlike structure with a high energy reading. She punched in a few commands and watched as the massive cannon outside slowly began to turn toward its target.

"Alright, if I hack this bit of code here, the cannon won't vent properly when it fires, causing a backsurge into the reactor." Sabine said. "That will cause the reactor shields to drop, giving me time to prep the bomb."

"Let's do this." Ezra said.

Sabine punched in the new code, then reached for the firing lever. "Here goes nothing." She said, pulling the lever.

There was a bright red glow, then a loud boom as the cannon fired. Alarms began sounding as the reactor overloaded, and a voice on a loudspeaker ordered people to proceed to emergency bunkers. The two ran to the reactor, and Sabine began to arm her bomb.

"Rebels!" A voice shouted.

Ezra turned and saw five security troopers running toward them. Ezra shot one in the chest with stun, then switched the blaster to lethal and fired again. More troopers ran in and Ezra had to duck behind cover.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" Sabine yelled over the blaster fire.

"To late, they've called in reinforcements!" Ezra shouted as more troopers ran in. Sabine drew her blasters and began firing as well, but there were to many troopers.

"How long do we have?" Ezra asked.

"Three minutes!" Sabine replied. "But the good news is the shield is back up, so they can't touch it without bringing the shield down again."

"Where could they do that?" Ezra asked.

"Control room!" Sabine replied. "That's probably our only way left to get out too!" Ezra nodded, and they fought their way back into the control room.

"Well, I think all the security personnel on the base is in here now." Sabine said. "We're gonna have to jump, you know."

Ezra looked out the window to the ground, three stories below. "Ehh, we've fallen farther." He said. "How long do we have?"

"Thirty seconds." Sabine replied. Ezra was about to respond when a trooper tossed a thermal detonator into the room.

Without speaking, Ezra grabbed Sabine and pushed the two of them out the window as the detonator exploded. He used the Force to slow their fall, but they still hit the ground hard. Before they could get up, the reactor exploded, engulfing the building in a ball of pink fire and sending them flying through the mud a hundred meters away. Ezra managed to slow them down again, so they only had bruises, not broken bones. As they picked themselves up, Sabine turned toward the fireball and, oddly enough, began to laugh.

"Oh I've missed this!" She said, turning back toward Ezra and removing her helmet.

Ezra couldn't help but stare. She was covered in mud and ash and blood, save for her head, which had been covered by her helmet. There was something oddly beautiful about her, even more so than usual. Something wild. Something fierce.

At that moment, all the indecision, insecurities, and fears left him.

At that moment, Ezra knew what he wanted.

"Sabine, will you…." Ezra said but he was drowned out by a second explosion.

"What?" Sabine asked. She felt her heart begin to race. She hadn't heard what he said, but she had read his lips. She just wanted to hear him say it.

"Will you marry me?" He called over more explosions.

"Yes!" She replied. She began laughing again, and he laughed too as he pulled her in and kissed her.

After a few moments Sabine pulled back. "Let's get out of here first."


	16. Chapter 16

"Uh oh." Sabine said as they exited hyperspace. "Mom's calling."

"Put her on." Ezra laughed.

Sabine activated the holoprojector to reveal a small, blue, very angry Hera Syndulla.

"Sabine Wren." Hera said slowly, almost in a growl. "Where are you and where is my other ship?"

"Relax Hera." Sabine replied. "We just wanted to have some fun. We're almost back to the Ghost, we'll explain when we get there."

A few minutes later, Ezra and Sabine were sliding down the ladder into the Ghost. At the bottom, they found a still angry Hera and a pretending-to-be-angry Kanan.

"Well, let's hear it." Hera said.

"Well, we found an Imperial weapons research station, destroyed the weapon, blew up a building, and Ezra asked me to marry him." Sabine blurted out in one breath.

Hera opened her mouth to reply, but stopped. "Wait wait wait, Ezra did what?" She asked. Her anger was gone, replaced by shock and a little joy.

"We're getting married!" Sabine and Ezra laughed at the same time.

It sounded weird to say it, but at the same time, it just sounded right. Kanan's jaw hit the floor, and Hera was speechless for a whole two seconds. When she finally regained her voice, she stepped closer to them.

"This doesn't excuse you from stealing the Phantom." She said, wrapping both her 'kids' in a hug "But I'm proud of you two."

 **A few weeks later**

 _Sabine_

Sabine's only real request for the wedding was that it happen at night on her family's home planet, Krownest. She hadn't wanted anyone but the crew there, but her father had insisted, although her mother wasn't very happy with her choice of a husband.

She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had cleaned her armor up, and even changed her hair. She had let it grow out a little over the past few months, and changed the color to light red at the top slowly getting darker as it went down.

"Ezra's gonna have a heart attack when he sees you." A voice said behind her. She spun around and found her brother Tristan standing in the doorway.

"Hey baby brother." Sabine said with a grin.

"Hey sis." Tristan replied. "You ready to do this?"

"Yeah." Sabine replied. She looked down at her feet, then looked back at her brother. "Is it weird that I'm nervous?" She asked.

"Not at all." Tristan replied. "That's just part of it. Once you get out there, it'll all go away."

"And how would you know that?" Sabine asked, punching him in the arm. "You've never been married."

"Yeah, but it's just like anything else life changing." Tristan said. "Let me ask you this, do you love him?"

"Of course." Sabine replied.

"Then you have nothing to be nervous about." Tristan laughed. "Come on, everyone is waiting."

Sabine let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, and followed Tristan. They walked down the hallway of their family home toward the door, their footsteps echoing softly on the marble floors.

"Just so you know, mom is going to ambush you before we get there." Tristan said.

"What could she possibly want?" Sabine asked.

"Well, you know she's not fully on board with this." Tristan said. "So she's invoking some ancient rule that says if you, being the oldest child, marry a Jedi you can't inherit the holdings and titles of your parents."

"I figured that would come up sooner or later." Sabine replied "And it's alright, I don't want it. You and I both know I never have. I guess I should congratulate you then, since you'll be the successor to Clan Wren."

"You know, I actually never thought about it like that, but thanks." Tristan replied.

Sabine laughed as they walked outside into the cool night. Across the lake where she had fought Gar Saxon, she could see lights where the ceremony was supposed to take place.

 _Ezra_

Ezra ran through the Mandalorian wedding vows in his head for at least the millionth time. He had been practicing with Tristan all day, both because he need to practice and as a way to distract him from Sabine. He had grown up on Lothal, but didn't know much about the wedding rituals there, save for they were a complicated process. He didn't want that, and he knew Sabine wouldn't either, so while they were planning they had decided to go with the simple Mandalorian wedding vows.

As he walked down the Ghost ramp, he found Hera waiting at the bottom.

"Hey kiddo." She said, fighting back tears.

"Hey." Ezra replied. "I thought you'd be with Sabine."

"She wanted a few minutes alone." Hera replied. "And I wanted to see how you were doing."

Ezra looked down at the shining grey, blue, and white Jedi armor he wore. Hera had insisted on it being spotless, so he had spent the better part of the night before cleaning it.

"Well, my armor stayed clean, so I guess I'm pretty good." He laughed.

"Alright then, come on, it's time." Hera said.

As they started walking towards the lights over the hill, Ezra flipped the white cowl of his armor up over his head.

"Ezra take that off." Hera said immediately.

"Oh come on it looks cool." Ezra replied. He looked at Hera and, realizing she wasn't in the mood to argue, flipped it back down.

As they topped the hill, Hera squeezed Ezras hand. "Good luck." She said softly, then left him to find her seat.

Ezra looked at the slightly raised platform fifty meters away. With a start, he realized the dream of his fifteen year old self was about to come true. He noticed movement on the far side of the clearing and saw Tristan. The Mandalorian saw him and waved, signaling it was time to start.

The ceremony was short and simple, exactly how they both wanted it. The only people present were the Ghost crew, Sabine's parents and brother, along with Fenn Rau and Rex, who had made a surprise stop on their way to a Rebel base to train special forces. After the vows were said and the two kissed, the small group celebrated for a few hours, then it was time for the Ghost crew to head back out.

As the Ghost shot into hyperspace, the two newlyweds said goodnight to the crew, and Sabine gently took Ezras hand and led him to his room. The door had barely closed behind them when Sabine jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She pressed her lips to his, and they stayed pressed together for almost a minute. Then Ezra lost his balance, and they fell to the floor.

"We're married!" Sabine laughed as they broke for air. "It sounds weird to say that."

"It sounds good. " Ezra said, kissing her again.

For the rest of the night, they were tangled up in each other. They learned new things about themselves and each other; what they liked, what they didn't like. Ezra finally got to see Sabine's starbird tattoo, and Sabine found that Ezra had a long white scar on the inside of his upper right leg. But even for a Jedi and a Mandalorian, stamina only lasts so long, and hours later the two finally fell asleep.

When Ezra came to, he found himself still lying on the floor, Sabine lying face down on top of him, both of them missing their clothes. He didn't know why, but he began to laugh softly. Six years ago, when he had first met Sabine, he could only dream about this. Now here he was, married to the most beautiful girl in the galaxy.

Sabine woke up as he ran a hand along her bare back. "Good morning." She said as she kissed him.

"I don't think it's morning anymore." Ezra replied. The clock on the his desk read just past noon.

"Mm, let's stay here a little longer anyway." She said, putting her head against his chest. Ezra was content to stay there forever, but there was a knock at the door.

"Hey kids." Kanan said through the door. "Sorry but it's time to get up. Command has a mission for us."

"We'll be right there." Sabine said. She kissed Ezra again quickly, then rolled off of him.

"We're gonna have to decide where we're staying." She told Ezra as they got dressed.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well, we're married now, meaning we'll be sharing a room." Sabine replied. "I was thinking you could move into my room, and we could reconfigure it so we have more space."

"Sounds good to me." Ezra replied.

They got dressed and made their way to the cockpit, where the rest of the crew was already gathered.

"You two had fun last night." Zeb laughed.

"Leave them alone Zeb" Hera said as their faces turned red.

"What, I'm just saying" Zeb said. "You didn't have to sleep in the next room last night. Are you two gonna stay there or what?"

"We're moving to my room soon" Sabine told him.

"Can it be tonight?" Zeb asked "Please? You two are kind of loud."

"Garazeb Orellious, that's enough!" Hera scolded.

"So, what's the mission?" Kanan asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, it's not so much a Rebellion mission as it is a personal one." Hera said. "We've located a group of Republic era mini space stations. They were originally used as listening posts and emergency medical stations." She pulled up an image of the space station.

"That looks like that medical station we found years ago." Sabine said.

"It was produced by the same shipyards" Kanan said "It's a lot smaller though. The typical crew size for these things was about 20. But it's got a hanger big enough to fit the Ghost, and enough living space for all of us."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Ezra asked. "Are we moving into a space station?"

"Well, yes." Hera said. "Command wants to keep some of the cells separate, but still have somewhere to park their ships. I volunteered us for one of these because they have several advantages. Number one, they're hyperspace capable, so we could still move around if we need to. Second, we need more space. Zebs experience last night is a great example. I love this old ship, but it's getting a little cramped, and having to rv with the fleet for fuel is time consuming, not to mention dangerous."

"Well I think having a space station sounds awesome." Ezra said. "Let's go get one."

They made their way to the coordinates, where they met up with two other rebel cells who were also getting space stations. They parked the Ghost in the hanger of the station they were going to get, and Hera sent Sabine, Ezra, and Chopper to find the bridge.

"It's a lot nicer than the last one" Sabine said.

"Yeah" Ezra laughed "Less inquisitors too"

They made it to the bridge and powered up the station. Surprisingly, it had a stable reactor and minimal damage.

"This place is awesome." Ezra said as he scanned the systems. "We've got a hyperdrive, hanger, mech shop, kitchens, a full size med bay, an armory, weapon systems, and plenty of rooms to choose from."

Sabine smiled at his enthusiasm. "Hera, I think you made a good choice" She said on the comm. "Where do you want to go?"

Hera gave her coordinates, and the station jumped to hyperspace. Sabine and Ezra left Chopper in charge of the bridge and walked back to the Ghost to meet Kanan, Hera, and Zeb.

"So, what do you guys think?" Hera asked

"I like it so far" Zeb said "Lots of space in here."

"Yeah, I think it's great." Ezra said.

Hera smiled. "Good, because this is our new home."

 **A/N: So once again, thank you to everyone who's been putting up with me and following this story. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, hopefully before college starts again.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: So here we are again. Thanks again to everyone who's been following this story, and sorry to whoever didn't like the last chapter and un-favorited the story.**

"Jacen be careful!" Hera called out. The 3 year old was zooming around the hanger bay on his scooter, knocking over crates and putting dents in the wall.

"He's fine Hera, I'm watching him." Sabine called from somewhere up high.

Hera looked around and saw Ezra near the wall holding his arms above his head. She looked up and saw Sabine hovering in the air, painting on the ceiling.

Since they had taken over the space station, which they had named the Wraith, nearly two years before, Sabine had painted nearly every inch of free space. She had found herself running out of room on the walls, then looked up to the ceiling of the hanger. Since then she, with the help of Ezra, had been painting the ceiling with a large, extremely detailed Loath-wolf.

"How are you watching my child from way up there? Hera asked.

"I've got skills" Sabine replied.

Hera was about to respond when Jacen came flying around a crate and hit Ezra in the legs, knocking him off his feet. His concentration broke, and Sabine screamed and dropped like a rock. He managed to get a hand up and slow her fall, but she still landed on him.

Hera laughed softly as the two struggled to their feet. "Serves you right." She said.

As Jacen came by again, she reached down and grabbed him off the scooter. It shut off immediately, just as Sabine had designed it to.

"Come on you, it's time for lunch." She said.

"No!" The boy cried "I wanna play with Ezwa and Bean!"

"Well I want to eat, so playing will have to wait." Ezra said.

Jacen crossed his arms and frowned at Ezra. Ezra mirrored the boy, and they stared at each other for about 10 seconds, then they both started laughing.

Sabine smiled as she watched them. As Jacen had gotten older, he'd grown attached to Ezra, almost to the point of worship. Ezra had recognized this, and spent a lot of his free time playing with the boy. Sabine often found herself in awe of Ezra's natural ability to interact with and care for the toddler.

'He'd make a good father someday.' She thought as they walked to the kitchen. She and Ezra had never really talked about having kids, and, for now at least, both of them were happy as they were. But in recent weeks the thought had been lingering at the back of her mind.

Sabine made herself some food and sat at the table across from Jacen, who was eating happily. Ezra down next to Sabine and began eating as well.

Jacen looked down at his peanut butter and jelly, then at Ezra, then down at his food again. He slowly picked up a lump of jelly in his small hand, then threw it across the table at Ezra. Without looking up, Ezra caught the food with the Force and sent it flying back at Jacen. The purple goo splattered across his forehead, and Jacen began to cry.

"Mama!" He cried, looking toward Hera. The Twilek had been standing beside the ice box, slowly sipping her glass of blue milk and watching her son get into a fight he couldn't possibly win.

"What?" She asked "You did it to yourself."

Jacen pouted and crossed his arms, frowning at Ezra. Ezra, for his part, was laughing softly. It wasn't the first time the boy had tried throwing food at him, but he was determined to beat Ezra's Force powers.

"I told you I'd get you in the face this time." Ezra said. "You're not going to…"

He was cut off mid sentence as Sabine smeared her own peanut butter sandwich across his face. There was a moment of silence, then Jacen began to laugh loudly. Ezra turned slowly toward Sabine, wiping the peanut butter out of his eyes. She gave him a playful smile, then bolted for the door. Jacen cheered as Ezra jumped up and took off after her.

Even though both of them were now in their twenties, Ezra and Sabine were still kids at heart. The war was rough, and sometimes the only way to cope was to have some childlike fun. Ezra chased Sabine out of the kitchen, down the hallway, across the hanger deck, up two flights of stairs, and down another hallway before finally cornering her in their room.

"Okay okay I give up!" Sabine laughed, out of breath. Ezra walked up to her and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her in close.

"Wait, Ezra please don't…" She laughed, but it was to late.

Ezra ran his finger across his face, gathering up some of the peanut butter, then smeared it across her forehead. They both stood there in each other's arms, laughing, then Ezra leaned in and kissed her quickly. Sabine was confused when he pulled away and slowly backed toward the door.

"I love you Sabine." He said with a smile. "Tag, you're it." With that, he turned and ran out the door.

Sabine smiled and rolled her eyes, then ran after him. They chased each other around the Wraith for nearly twenty minutes, then Kanan called everyone up to the control room. Sabine and Ezra walked in side by side, out of breath and faces covered in peanut butter.

"You two need to take some meds." Zeb said. Chopper agreed, waving his arms at them loudly.

"We're just playing around." Ezra laughed.

"Well, playtime is over, we have a situation." Kanan said. "The main Rebel base on Hoth was attacked. We lost a lot of people, but some of them managed to evacuate. We've been given coordinates to rendezvous with the evac ships and assist with wounded until medical ships from the fleet can come help. That being said, we need to move all the supplies out of the hangers, and put the Ghost outside. We also need to bring all the medical supplies to the hangers, and those old med droids. Sabine are we good to go?"

"Always." Sabine replied, stepping over to the hyperdrive console. Kanan gave her the coordinates, and the Wraith jumped to hyperspace.

They came out near a small gas planet, but there were no ships in the area. By that time, they had both hangers cleared out and medical supplies ready. Sabine hopped into the Ghost and flew it around to one of the external docking clamps. She had just attached the ship to the station when three Rebel transports appeared, escorted by two X-Wing fighters. Sabine hurried through the airlock and ran to the hanger as the first ship unloaded its cold, injured, exhausted Rebel troops.

"What happened?" Sabine asked a trooper as she helped him to a cot. The left side of his white uniform was soaked with blood, and she could tell he had mild frostbite.

"Empire came out of nowhere, a whole fleet of star destroyers." He said. "We activated the shield and they started landing troops. Walkers. The big ones. We fought as long as we could, but those walkers were indestructible. The speeders brought down a couple with cables, but the rest broke through and destroyed the shield generator. Then they…"

He gasped and nearly screamed as the pain began to set in, and Sabine knew he was going into shock.

"Shh, you're okay now." She said as she flagged down a medic.

After hours of helping injured troops, Sabine needed a break. She walked to the kitchen, where she found Jacen sitting at the table coloring.

"Hey kiddo." She said as she poured herself a glass of blue milk.

"Hi Bean." Jacen said. He looked up at her as she sat down across from him. "Are you owkay Bean?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She replied, smiling softly. "Why do you ask."

"You look sad." Jacen said.

Sabine laughed softly. Jacen has always been a smart kid, but in recent months, the boy had developed an uncanny ability to tell when something wasn't right. Kanan and Ezra thought it might be early signs of Force abilities, but so far there was nothing else to suggest it.

"Some bad people did some bad things today." Sabine said.

"I know." Jacen said "Mama made me come in hewe because of the loud noises."

He climbed down from his chair and walked around to Sabine. He crawled up into her lap and hugged her with his small arms.

"Mama says evwything will be owkay soon." He said.

With that he crawled back down onto the floor, then plodded off toward his room. Sabine smiled as she watched him go, and felt her eyes water for a moment.

She had always treated Jacen as her own, but at that moment, she wished she _had_ her own. She had been thinking more and more about kids all day, what it would be like to have a little human that looked to her and Ezra for all the answers in the galaxy. Her thoughts were interrupted as Ezra walked into the kitchen.

"Hey." He said "Jacen said I'd find you in here."

Sabine smiled as he sat next to her, trying to find a voice to the question on her mind. Before she could, Hera called for them on the station intercom. The fleet had arrived, allowing Sabine to have more thought on the matter.

As the day went by, the more she was sure about what she wanted. She just didn't know how to bring it up to Ezra.

Later that night, Ezra and Sabine were lying in bed, talking about the days events. There was a moment of silence, and they lay there looking at each other. Sabine drew a breath, preparing herself to ask him, but Ezra spoke first.

"Sabine." He said, almost nervously, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course Ez." She replied, sitting up a little.

"Have you, uh, ever thought about having kids?" Ezra asked.

Sabine was shocked. He couldn't have know she had been thinking about the exact question all day long, and now she didn't know how to respond.

"Kids?" She asked slowly, still in shock. "Yeah, actually, I've been thinking about it a lot. What about you?"

"Well I have some." He replied, rolling over onto his back. "I just don't know when. With all the terrible stuff that happens to us, I don't know when we could have one safely."

Sabine understood, she had pondered the exact problem earlier that day.

"What about now?" She asked, breaking the silence that had set in again.

"Now?" Ezra asked.

Sabine rolled her eyes. "Yeah dork, now." She laughed.

She threw the blankets off of them, then quickly threw her leg over him and moved so she was sitting on top of him.

"Woah, Sabine are you sure?" Ezra asked.

Sabine laughed and brushed her hair out of her face. "The Galaxy isn't going to get any safer anytime soon Ez." She said before she kissed him.

Ezra wrapped his arms around her and started pulling off her top. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and they both froze, still locked together.

"Ezra?" Kanan said from the other side of the door. "You still up?"

Sabine pulled away so Ezra could respond. "Yeah" he replied, knowing if he didn't respond Kanan would sense he was awake and open the door anyway.

"Can you come put Jacen to bed?" Kanan asked. "He refuses to sleep until you tell him a story."

Ezra looked at Sabine, now topless, and sighed. "Yeah, I'll be right there." He said.

Sabine laughed and moved off of him so he could get up. He threw on a shirt an turned back to Sabine.

"We'll finish this later." He said as he kissed her.

Sabine waited until he left, then put on her oversized night shirt and followed him. She made her way to Jacen's room, doing her best to avoid detection by Ezra.

She looked through the open door and saw her husband sitting in a chair, holding Jacen on his knee, telling him a story about Lothal. She smiled as she watched Ezra patiently answer the boy's questions, trying to get him to sleep.

'He'll make a great father.' She thought.

A/N: I know, long chapter, but thanks for reading and please leave comments on what you like/dislike and ways I can improve.

Also for anyone interested I'm modeling my version of young Jacen off of young Jack Marston from RDR2. I know the ages are different but if you've played the game you'll get the general idea.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: So, RIP my Gen Chem II grade, but I finally got this chapter done. Hope you enjoy!**

Sabine woke to find Ezra gone. From the feel of his side of the bed, he had been gone for a while. She rolled out of bed and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. There she found Hera trying to get Jacen to eat.

"Where is everyone?" Sabine asked.

"They went to pick up some supplies" Hera replied "Helping those injured yesterday left us drained."

Sabine made herself breakfast and sat down at the table, but didn't eat. She was to busy thinking of the conversation she had had with Ezra the previous night.

After she watched him tell Jacen a story for a while, she had gone back to bed. Without meaning too, she had fallen asleep before Ezra returned. And just for a moment before she had fallen asleep, she had begun to think about the negative aspects of having a child.

Hera noticed Sabine staring at her food and knew something was bothering her. She took Jacen to another room to play with Chopper.

"Everything okay?" She asked when she returned.

"What?" Sabine asked, coming back to reality "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well you haven't touched your food." Hera said. "It's just me and you, let's hear it."

"Well...Ezra asked me if I wanted to have kids last night." Sabine told her.

"Really?" Hera replied, a little shocked. "What did you tell him?"

"Well, I told him yes of course." Sabine replied. "I've been thinking about it for awhile, but it honestly shocked me that he brought it up first."

Hera did her best to keep a straight face. Ezra had talked to her about how to ask Sabine about kids three days before.

"So what's the problem?" Hera asked. "Do you really want kids, or did you just say that to make him happy?"

"I really do want kids." Sabine replied. "It's just…I know Ezra will be a great father no matter what, but I'm scared I won't be a good mother. My own mother wasn't always the best. She was cold and cruel at times, and getting love from her was like pulling teeth. I just don't want to be like that."

Hera stared at Sabine for a moment before she spoke. She realized from Sabine's voice that the young woman was truly scared.

"Sabine listen to me." She said, taking the Mandalorians hand. "You are nothing like your mother. I've seen you taking care of Jacen. You're a sweet, kind, caring young woman and I know you'll be a great mother."

"You think so?" Sabine asked.

Hera smiled and pushed Sabine's breakfast toward her. "I know so." She said. "Now eat. If you're going through with this, you'll need your strength.

 _A few weeks later._

"Ez!" Sabine called as she ran into the room.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked, jumping up from his desk.

Sabine was grinning from ear to ear and holding something out to him. He took the object and looked at it, unable to figure out what it was.

"What is this?" He asked.

"It's a pregnancy test, ya big dork!" She laughed.

Understanding dawned on his face as he looked from her to the test and back again, and she laughed even harder.

"Wait, so these lines….does that mean...are you…?" He stammered, unable to complete a sentence.

"Yep" she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"We're gonna be parents!" Ezra said excitedly, picking her up and spinning her around. He set her back down and kissed her, and when they broke, he was smiling a big as she was.

"We've gotta tell the others!" He said. He pulled away from Sabine, then ran out the door.

"Ezra wait!" Sabine called "Where are you going?"

A few moments later she heard the Wraith's intercom system click on.

"Guys, guess what?" Ezra said. "Sabine's pregnant! We're gonna be parents!"

Sabine laughed and headed for the common area, where she figured she'd find the rest of the crew. Hera was overjoyed, and Kanan and Zeb were happy as well. Jacen didn't really understand what was going on, but everyone else was happy so he was too.

 _Five months later_

"Hey Bean." Jacen said as Sabine walked into the kitchen.

"Hey kiddo." Sabine replied "What are you doing in here?"

"Coloring." The boy replied "Mama says I have to color at the table."

Sabine smiled as she made her lunch. Jacen had developed a small artistic flare, no doubt influenced by Sabine's numerous paintings around the Wraith and on the Ghost. She sat down at the table and ate her lunch, studying the toddler's drawing.

"Hey Bean?" Jacen asked "When's the baby gonna be here?"

"Well it's supposed to be a few more months." Sabine replied. "But it could be a little sooner."

"Oh." Jacen said.

Sabine noticed something in his voice, and it worried her. "Jacen." She said "What's wrong?"

"Am I still gonna be important when the baby gets here?" Jacen asked.

The question caught Sabine off guard. Of all the things on the toddlers mind, she hadn't expected this.

"Wha…Of course you will." She said. "Come here."

The boy put his markers down and walked around the table to sit next to her.

"Jacen, listen to me." She said, taking his hand. "Things are gonna change as you grow up. They might be big and they might be scary, but that's just part of growing up. But don't think for one second that you are replaceable. You'll always be our baby. You hear me?"

"Yeah." The boy replied. He hugged her, then reached across the table and grabbed his picture. "I made this for you."

"Aww, thanks kiddo." She said, doing her best to fight back tears.

She watched Jacen walk out of the kitchen, then looked down at the drawing. It was a stick figure drawing of their family, and she couldn't help but laugh as she recognized herself. Instead of a stick, Jacen had made her midsection a circle. As she put her plate in the sink, she heard footsteps and turned to find Hera approaching her.

"Hey." Hera said "That was really good."

"You think so?" Sabine asked. She wasn't even surprised that the Twilek had heard the conversation.

Hera nodded. "I told you, you're going to be a great mother Sabine."

Sabine sighed and leaned back against the counter. "Thank you Hera." Sabine replied. "For everything. I don't know if I've ever actually said that, but thank you for everything you and Kanan have ever done for me. You took me in when nobody else wanted me. Gave me a second chance. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't, and honestly I'm scared to think about it."

Before she could say anything else, Hera wrapped the Mandalorian in a hug. They stood there for a few moments, then Sabine let out a small gasp. "What, what's wrong?" Hera asked, concerned. "I...I think the baby just kicked." Sabine said excitedly.

 _Two months later_

"Now that's what I call art!" Sabine laughed as the half finished Death Star exploded.

"Don't celebrate yet gang." Hera said. "We just got reassigned to the surface battle."

Sabine felt the Ghost lurch as they shot toward the surface of Endor. As they broke through the clouds, she could see smoke rising from several points in the forest. They landed in a clearing at the edge of a lake, where a makeshift Rebel command post had been set up. Sabine was surprised to see a familiar, white bearded figure approaching the ship.

"Rex!" She said, greeting the old clone.

"Hey Sabine" Rex replied, "How you holdin up? I hear you haven't left the ship in a while."

"Well, it's kinda hard when I can't fit into my armor anymore" Sabine said, patting her stomach. "I feel like a bantha, look like one too."

"What?" Ezra asked sarcastically as he walked in. "You? Fat? Never!"

"Ezra!" Sabine cried. He laughed as she hit him.

Rex laughed too. "Don't listen to him kid you look great." He said.

"Thanks Rex." Sabine said.

"So what's it like down here?" Ezra asked.

"Well, we've destroyed the shield generator, but the Imperials are still dug in pretty deep in the forest." Rex said "There's a whole network of bunkers and tunnels, and they have a lot of troops left down here. Enough to hold out for a while. To make matters worse, the have AT-AT's roaming the forest, and this place is so thick you can't see them until it's too late. But we're gaining ground, slowly but surely."

"Anything we can do to help?" Hera asked. By this time the rest of the crew had gathered around.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Rex replied. "Can you take me and two squads into the hot zone? Most of our boys are in a firefight trying to take a research post and they need reinforced."

They loaded the troops and flew along the treetops to the drop zone across the lake. As they landed, Sabine could tell how hard the battle was. Bodies of stormtroopers and Rebels were scattered across the forest floor, and much of the area was on fire.

As the two squads of fresh Rebel troops left the Ghost, medics rushed casualties in. Rex discussed the situation with one of his troops, then turned to the crew.

"You guys wouldn't mind lending a hand out here, would you?" He asked. "The Imperials are at the breaking point, but we don't have the numbers left to make a meaningful push to break them. The boys need some inspiration."

"Sure." Ezra replied. "I've been in this can all day, I'm ready for some action."

"It's been a while since I've gotten my hands dirty." Zeb said. "Count me in."

"Ah what the kriff, sure." Kanan replied. With that, the four charged down the ramp.

"Ezra Bridger!" Sabine yelled, in a tone that made Ezra skid to a stop. He turned and saw her standing at the top of the ramp, arms crossed.

"Yes Bean?" He replied, using Jacen's name for her.

She stood there staring at him for a long moment, then spoke. "You better come back in one piece." She said.

Sabine and Hera spent the next few hours shutting wounded troops to the medical frigate. Finally Kanan called and said they had taken the research post, and they returned to pick them up.

"Ezra what did you do?" Sabine cried as he walked into the ship. He had a large bruise across one side of his face that was sure to turn into a black eye.

"Hot shot here ran around a corner without backup." Rex said "Right into the arms of a riot trooper."

Sabine looked at Ezra, doing her best to keep a straight face. "That's what you get for calling me fat." She said.

 _Six weeks later_

"So are we going to this Lothal thing or not?" Sabine asked.

"Well, I'd like to go." Ezra replied, spinning his desk chair around to look at her. She was laying on their bed, skimming through the holo net news. "The question is, can you make it?"

"Of course." Sabine replied, sitting up. She instantly regretted it. Every time she moved, the baby kicked.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked, seeing her bite her lip.

"Nothing." Sabine replied "She's just been kicking a lot today."

They had found out the baby was a girl, and decided to call her Alayna. It had been Sabine's cover name for a mission years before, and it was the only name they had both really agreed to.

"Maybe she wants to be closer to her daddy." Ezra said with a grin.

Sabine laughed and stood to walk over to him. She took two steps, then stopped. She felt something, almost like a pop, then her eyes got wide as she felt something liquid running down her leg. Her emotions kicked into overdrive, and she was scared and excited at the same time.

"Ez." She said softly "Go get Hera."

"Why, what's wrong?" He asked, sitting up straight.

"I...I think my water just broke." Sabine replied. She looked down at her hands and realized they were shaking.

"Your water broke." Ezra said slowly "But that means…" His eyes got wide and he jumped up and ran out the door.

"Hera!" He yelled, running through the Wraith.

"Hera!" He yelled again as he burst into Kanan and Hera's room.

He found Kanan, playing with Jacen, who they had discovered was indeed Force sensitive.

"Where's Hera?" Ezra asked.

"She's on the Ghost." Kanan said. "Whats wrong?"

"The baby's coming!" Ezra yelled as he ran down the hall toward the hanger. "Hera!"

"Ezra what's wrong?" Hera asked, meeting him at the top of the ramp.

"Sabine...water…baby." Ezra managed, gasping for air.

"Woah, slow down kiddo." Hera said. "What about Sabine and the baby?"

"She said her water broke." Ezra managed.

They ran together back to Sabine, and found Kanan helping her into a hover chair.

"You ready to do this?" Hera asked as they headed to the med bay.

"As I'll ever be." Sabine replied.

 _15 hours later_

She should have been happy.

It should have been the happiest moment of her life. After 15 hours of labor, Sabine had given birth to a healthy baby girl. 6.3 lbs with a mess of black hair and electric blue eyes.

She should have been happy.

But something was wrong. She didn't feel right, and she didn't know why.

She did her best to look at her baby, squalling in Ezra's arms, but she felt dizzy, and everything began to spin.

"Ez, I don't feel so good." She said as she blacked out.

Before she slipped into complete darkness, she heard the wine of a heart monitor and Ezra yelling her name.

 **A/N: As always, thanks for reading and please review what I did good and what I can improve on!**


	19. Chapter 19

"Do it for me."

Those were the words Sabine had said to Ezra the first time she kissed him. It was so long ago, he didn't remember much else. But even though he had been unconscious, he still remembered those words. He'd never forget. He wondered if she could hear him saying the exact same words to her now.

Ezra looked down at his baby girl, sleeping peacefully in his arms, and sighed. The last three days had been a mess. He didn't really understand what had happened to Sabine, even though the med droids and Hera had tried to explain it a thousand times. They had to do some sort of surgery, then submerge her in a bacta tank for most of a day. Afterwards, the med droids had informed them that she would be okay, she just had to wake up.

When she had blacked out, Ezra had almost lost it. His vision from the cave had come true, and for a moment, he had almost slipped completely to the dark. The only thing that had kept him remotely sane through all of this was Alayna. Hera had been helping him with the baby, but he had been holding her for most of the last few days. She was all that was keeping him from breaking down and losing it. She was a piece of Sabine he could hold on to.

Ezra stood and walked over to the crib in the corner, setting her down and letting his daughter sleep. As he returned to his chair, he squeezed Sabine's hand. As he closed his eyes to try and get some rest, he heard her say his name. He sat up, and for a moment, he thought he had dreamed it. Then Sabine moved, and her eyes flickered open.

"Ez?" She asked weakly

"Sabine!" Ezra cried, jumping up out of his chair.

"What happened?" Sabine asked. She tried to sit up, but it hurt to move too far.

"Hey take it easy." Ezra said, fighting back tears of joy. "There were some problems with your delivery. You've been unconscious for the last few days. I...I thought I'd lost you." He kissed her slowly, then put his forehead against hers.

"Shh, Ez it' all right." Sabine said, running a hand along his cheek as he began to cry.

They sat for a moment staring into each other's eyes, then Alayna woke up and began to cry. Ezra hurried over to her crib and carefully picked her up, calming her down again before walking over to Sabine. It was Sabine's turn to cry as Ezra handed her their daughter.

"She looks like you." Ezra said.

"No, she looks like us." Sabine replied softly. "Those eyes are definitely yours."

They sat there for a moment, just looking at their new daughter, then Ezra spoke.

"Look at us." He said. "A Lothal street rat and a Mando runaway. And now…"

"Now we're parents." Sabine finished with a little awe. "It sounds weird doesn't it. You know, if you had told me when we met that this was our future…"

"You probably would've shot me." Ezra laughed.

"Well, I don't know about that." Sabine laughed. "But I probably would've hurt you."

As they sat there for a few more minutes in silence, a thought crossed Ezras mind.

"So what now?" He asked.

"I don't know." Sabine replied. "I guess we just keep on going. I would like to go back to Lothal though."

"Really?" Ezra asked "I didn't think you liked it that much."

"I've never said that." Sabine replied "It's home for you, and it's more home to me now than Mandalore or Krownest."

"Alright then." Ezra said happily. Before he could speak again, he heard an excited gasp.

"Bean!" Jacen cried, running over to the bedside.

"Hey kiddo." Sabine said.

"You woke up!" Jacen said. "Mama said she didn't know when you would, and Ezra has been really sad, so I have been too, but now you're awake so everything is better!"

Ezra and Sabine both laughed at the boys enthusiasm. They watched as he turned and ran out the door, nearly slipping on his way out. He returned moments later with Hera in tow. She, in turn, brought in Kanan and Zeb. As they stood around her, welcoming the newest member of the crew, Sabine let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. There were still battles to fight and a war to win, but in that moment, as she looked at Ezra holding their daughter, Sabine knew they had made it, and that everything would be alright.

 _Some time later_

Sabine sat on the front porch, looking across the grassy plains and watching the Lothal sky turn a brilliant shade of orange and purple as the sun set. It was quite here, peaceful. It was far away from the war, and exactly how she wanted it.

"Hey." Ezra said, breaking the silence. "Remember how the entire fleet was mobilized a few days ago to head to Jakku? Well apparently they won, and the war is over."

"What?" Sabine asked as he sat next to her. "Are you sure?"

Ezra smiled and nodded. "The Empire lost its last major fleet, and their leadership signed a treaty with the New Republic this morning."

Sabine let out a sigh of relief and lay her head on his shoulder. Ezra put his arm around her and lay his head against hers.

"It's over." She said softly. "It's finally over." They sat in silence, watching the sunset.

"What are we gonna do?" Ezra asked finally. "All we've ever done is fight the Empire."

Sabine opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. He was right, all they'd ever known was the Empire. Ezra's birthday was the day the Empire was founded. They had been fighting for so long, peace was an abstract idea.

The silence was broken by a baby's cry, and Sabine smiled at Ezra. "Well, it looks like you're changing diapers Jedi." She said.

"Oh come on." Ezra replied. "I'd rather fight the Empire again."

"Fine." Sabine said. "I guess you don't want to see that new nightgown I bought the other day."

Ezra's eyes widened, and he could tell by the expression on her face she was being serious. Sabine laughed as he jumped up and ran inside.

"That was a dirty move, Mando!" He called.

Sabine smiled and watched the last sliver of sun sink below the horizon. There was no more running. No more fighting. No more war. She had Ezra, she had a family, and she had a home in a galaxy at peace.

Everything was perfect.

 **A/N: So, there you have it. I honestly didn't mean for this story to run this long, but thanks to everyone who's kept reading it. Like I said when I started this, huge shoutout to Meldy-Arts, who's artwork inspired a lot of this story. Thanks again to everyone who's read and/or reviewed this story, I really hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
